Reporters, if you are looking for info on advertisers who are currently running Facebook & Instagram ads re: Iran in the US, use the "Ad Search" feature on our @polidashboard.org app. app.polidashboard.org/meta_ads?cou...
“Our goal w/ @Polidashboard.org is to make political ad data more accessible & meaningful, not just for researchers & journalists, said Philip Mai, Co-Director & Senior Researcher of the Social Media Lab, but for anyone who wants to see how digital platforms are being used to shape public opinion."
PoliDashboard Unveils 25 New Country-Specific Dashboards, Advancing Global Transparency in Political Advertising on Meta Platform socialmedialab.ca/2026/02/04/p...
French trolling is just superb.
This expanded scope allows PoliDashboard to explore how local values, regulations, and cultural dynamics shape the content and messaging of paid ads on Meta’s platforms.
These countries span a wide range of political systems, social norms, and cultural environments—from high-income democracies to emerging economies, and from collectivist to individualistic societies.
The addition of 25 new countries underscores our commitment to analyzing political and social issues in advertising across diverse global contexts.
PoliDashboard Unveils 25 New Country-Specific Dashboards, Advancing Global Transparency in Political Advertising on Meta Platform socialmedialab.ca/2026/02/04/p...
Check out our how-to page for examples of how we and others have used @PoliDashboard.org to identify malicious actors who use paid ads on Facebook and Instagram to deceive users. polidashboard.org/how-to-use-p...
We are working on a more detailed PoliDashboard 'how-to' for journalists. #Staytuned.
In some way, social media is like a weather vane in a storm: it spins quickly to show where the wind’s blowing, but you can’t tell how fierce the storm really is.
The Cracker Barrel story should serve as a reminder that "What a journalist can discern from publicly available social media data is not exactly what is typically thought of as 'public opinion.'”
We & our colleagues outlined this problem back in 2018. policyoptions.irpp.org/2018/09/when...
"Cracker Barrel Outrage Was Almost Certainly Driven by Bots, Researchers Say" gizmodo.com/cracker-barr...
Here's a peek at who has been trying to sway Americans on Facebook and Instagram over the past seven days. app.polidashboard.org/meta_ads?cou...
Scammers are targeting seniors again. When we released our new @polidashboard.org app for tracking political ads, we did not expect that it could also be used to detect financial & other types of fraudulent activities on Meta’s advertising platforms.
socialmedialab.ca/2025/07/29/p...
This year proved the courts won’t save America. Next year might prove the ballot box alone won’t either. That’s not a reason to give up, it’s a reason to dig in. The system won’t fix itself. Democracy only works if we fight for it, together. Keep showing up. Keep speaking out. Keep building power.
"If you can't win the game, change the rules."
Meta just gave advertisers wider access to "Meta’s Value Rules," a new tool to let advertiser fine-tune and target nich audience who are likely to buy their products. (Note: product can also be a social issue or policy position.) www.socialmediatoday.com/news/meta-ad...
@PoliDashboard.org Launches Major Update to Advance Transparency in Political Advertising on Facebook & Instagram.
- AI-Generated Ad Summaries
- Semantic Ad Search
- Advanced Data Filtering
- Enhanced Demographics Visualization w/ Interactive Demographic Drilldowns
socialmedialab.ca/2025/07/29/p...
Here's a peek at what we're working on for @PoliDashboard.org, our app for tracking ads re: political, election, & social issues on FB/IG.
1) semantic and keyword search of all ads for a particular country & 2) a summary of the advertiser's entire ad portfolio/campaign. #transparency #TargetedAds
Giving water to people in line to vote in the US is illegal. But "Billionaire Elon Musk can hand out million-dollar checks to two voters in Wisconsin and promised smaller payments to others who help elect a conservative candidate to the state's top court" www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...
“Our goal is to make political ad data more accessible & meaningful—not just for researchers & journalists, but for anyone who wants to see how digital platforms are being used to shape pub. opinion. Transparency is the first step toward accountability.” - @gruzd.ca socialmedialab.ca/2025/03/31/p...
This new release of PoliDashboard includes powerful updates: Audience Demographic Filters: Explore which demographic groups (based on age and gender) each advertiser targets; Location-Based Filtering: See where ad dollars are being spent by province/state; Enhanced Speed & Usability: Experience a faster, more intuitive user interface, making it easier than ever to dive into the data.
PoliDashboard.org Launches with Powerful New Features to Track Political Ads on Facebook and Instagram — Just in Time for the 2025 Canadian Federal Election socialmedialab.ca/2025/03/31/p... #cdnpoli #elbowsup
TikTok Canada Launches Election Centre for Federal Election: "TikTok users in Canada will encounter prompts directing them to the Election Centre when engaging with election-related content or searches, such as 'Canada Election 2025” and “Federal Election.'" www.iphoneincanada.ca/2025/03/24/t...
As expected:
- X usage in Canada continues to decline: 42% in 2020, 40% in 2022, and 37% in 2025.
- There are fewer left-leaning Canadians on X than center and right-leaning Canadians.
Stay tuned for more details in our upcoming report the “State of Social Media in Canada 2025” (ETA 04/2025)
Some of our new followers may be wondering why a social media research lab—one that primarily focuses on sharing insights about social media research and the latest developments in social media platforms—also engages with political topics.
"There's an old saying in diplomatic circles: 'If you are not at the table, you are on the table.'
Hard to believe it's 2025, and two superpowers are meeting to split up a sovereign nation—like colonialism never went out of style. #Ukraine
What’s the loss of a few million lives when proving a point takes priority?
I was once a child refugee, surviving on USAID rations—without them, my family would have perished. I will never understand the deep-seated cruelty some people carry in their hearts.
Remember when televisions in public spaces—airports, bus stations, military bases, and even waiting rooms—were almost always tuned to CNN. It was the default backdrop, shaping the way travelers, service members, and commuters absorbed the day’s news.
Democrats still communicate like it’s the Clinton era, relying on press conferences and stale press releases that mirror the party’s aging leadership. Few are willing—or able—to engage on social media authentically without staff mefiating and filtering their words.
