Professor Julie Frechette, Clark’s master’s in communication program lead, has long studied campaign communication. This means her phone has been inundated with text messages, emails, and push alerts from the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump for months.

In the past, voters often complained about the number of negative political ads on television. Today, campaigns use social media platforms and podcasts to spread their message further, swamping voters on every corner of the internet.

“We have a fractured media market, so most of us aren’t only paying attention to traditional or legacy media the way that we used to. Most of us have social media and email and SMS messaging, but that has become overwhelming in the same way that negative TV ads used to overwhelm people because it really creates anxiety,” says Frechette.

“When the campaign teams for either candidate are telling you how bleak things are or what their advantages are, it’s like the pendulum’s always moving side to side and you never know what’s accurate or who’s going to have the winning message.”

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Frechette discusses how Trump and Harris are using social media and how they’re persuading voters in the final hours before Election Day.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

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