The Future of Effective Digital Campaigning Is Research
Navigating Political Uncertainty, Newsfeed Burnout, and Manufactured Apathy
“I’m taking a social media break.”
“I’m tired of living through unprecedented times.”
“I can’t tell the difference between satire and the news.”
If the memeification of existential dread hasn’t convinced readers that campaigning—and, frankly, public discourse—has changed, consider what recent mental health data says about our digital environment:
More than four in ten Canadians (43%) say watching the news negatively affects their mental health—a 7% jump since December 2022.
Canadians with six or more hours a day of personal screen time are three times more likely to report severe anxiety and depression compared to those spending less time online.
Social media remains a significant source of stress— 36% of users report feeling worse from the pressure to compare themselves to others.
Think about it: the digital campaigns we often cite as groundbreaking—Obama’s “Hope” campaign, ALS’s Ice Bucket Challenge—wouldn’t succeed in today’s world, where burnout, apathy, and mental health struggles permeate the public psyche. Urgency alone no longer moves people; it exhausts them.
Why Digital Campaigns Must Change
At their core, digital campaigns should adapt—not just for better results, but out of respect for the mental health of those we’re trying to engage. The path forward requires campaigns that:
Combat news fatigue and social media numbness
Build broad coalitions across issues
Anticipate—and respond to—shifting contexts
Expose systems of power and demand accountability
Sticking to old playbooks of urgency and clickbait is a disservice. Take, for example, the US Democratic Party’s barrage of manipulative emails and texts. Their volume and desperation are being criticized by experts and mocked as memes, a sign that many feel overwhelmed and alienated instead of inspired.
Research: Not Just a Step, But a Strategy
In most organizations, research is treated as the first step in a predictable sequence:
Research → Strategy → Action
Consider the Democratic Party’s digital fundraising:
Research: Late-night Saturday texts earn more donations, especially when people are out.
Strategy: Schedule more donation asks for Saturday night.
Action: Short-term lift in fundraising.
But as digital strategist Josh Nelson points out, these gains come at a cost: “It’s a rude, intrusive thing to do... Even though some fraction of those contacts will donate, most of them will resent it. It kind of poisons politics for them, and I think decreases their appetite for civic participation.”
Research AS Strategy = Real Change
Instead of using research to justify tactics, what if research drove strategy and action as one unified approach? This was the model adopted by Chicago organizers fighting the city’s ShotSpotter surveillance system:
Research Method: Analyzed police deployment data with MacArthur Justice Center
Key Findings: 89% of ShotSpotter alerts led to no gun-related crime; 40,000+ “dead-end” police deployments in 21 months; tool used only in Black and Latinx neighborhoods; $49 million in waste documented
Impact: Mayor Brandon Johnson ended the contract, redirecting $49 million to community programs—after research made this position politically viable
Broader Ripple: The campaign caused ShotSpotter’s stock to drop 22%, forcing a rebrand to “SoundThinking.” Organizers elsewhere are now leveraging this research in their own cities.
Just as importantly, the research wasn’t left to gather digital dust. It was distributed via endpolicesurveillance.com, a campaign hub offering follow-up actions: readers could delve into local data, access organizing tools, and move from passive scrolling to active participation.
The Campaigns We Need Now
Long-term impact, coalition building, and real community engagement come from campaigns anchored by research as a core strategy—not just a preliminary step. In an era of burnout and apathy, our sector must invest in smarter, more humane digital campaigning that invites people in, rather than driving them away.