ABSTRACT
Video communication in political campaigns is often dominated by misleading negative television advertisements produced by super PACs, groups that usually represent the views of wealthy individuals accountable to nobody. The playing field for campaign videos, however, is expanding beyond television to include a prominent role for social media. Whether the formats and producers of these videos are having real impact, however, is an empirical question. This chapter provides systematic data about the most popular videos associated with US Senate candidates on YouTube in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 election cycles. As video communication in campaigns gravitates to social media, I argue, the financial advantage of super PACs will be mitigated, thereby creating new possibilities for a different set of voices. Rather than blaming social media for our political problems, then, we can use democratized video technologies to democratize the political process itself.
