THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS Digital platforms: Between manipulation and marketing (Atena Editora)

Abstract

The Internet, described as a new era by Manuel Castells, due to the profound social, economic and cultural changes that were on the horizon, also meant an economic reconfiguration. The fact is that the big digital platforms today are the main economic conglomerates in the world, with the consequent political strength that this has given them. The new millennium found in the digital ecosystem a space of dispute between advertising and manipulation. A turning point came in 2007 with the emergence of so-called smartphones. Political campaigns have integrated digital advocacy strategies among their main tools. Obama's 2007-2008 presidential campaign is considered a landmark moment, when he included former CEOs of major digital platforms on his team. Thus, strategies moved from segmentation to microtargeting, possibly their main contribution to the world of political marketing. Subsequently, the appearance of Trump in 2016 with an aggressive strategy, the apparent support of the company Cambridge Analytica and the role of the Facebook platform, current Meta, brought the enormous power accumulated by the digital ecosystem to the center of the debate. Facebook's collaboration with Cambridge Analytica in sharing the information of millions of users, combined with the involvement of Russian hackers, further complicated the election process. The Internet has clearly emerged as the new locus of power. The subsequent impeachment proceedings against President Trump sparked a debate about the Meta platform's involvement in the political dispute. Finally, we review the role of social networks in manipulating the electorate and the necessary regulation of networks. Clearly there are new giants on the economic and political scene, perhaps it is time to accept it.