Thanks to Buzzfeed News for the heads-up.

… And to ‘Mickey Finn’ in the article’s ‘comments’ section, who writes: “People, click on these adverts. Each click on a Tory advert costs the party money. You can drain their campaign fund (even if it is funded by the richest people in the country). Let the tories know exactly how it feels to be poor, disabled, sick, and slowly watch your finances dissipate.”

I wonder if that will work?

At the last general election it was all about the Conservatives spending big on Facebook adverts. This time around … the party is paying to get on to your Instagram.

The adverts, which have been running for the last week, show the prime minister repeating her core election slogans. They appear in feeds alongside normal Instagram posts – and have received a mixed reaction from users.

Instagram advertising represents the next stage in online election campaign tactics, with political parties increasingly relying on buying targeted web advertising to broadcast a message directly to voters – circumventing journalists and escaping the traditional restrictions on political TV and radio advertising.

[Theresa] May does not have her own Instagram feed, other than a Downing Street account run by civil servants that cannot be used for party-political purposes. She has also been relatively quiet on social media, rarely posting and not even following anyone on Twitter.

As a result her Instagram presence only exists as adverts – although that has not stopped them from attracting overwhelmingly negative comments.

Online advertising was used to significant effect by the Tories during the 2015 general election, where they massively outspent Labour by investing at least £1.2 million in Facebook adverts, especially in marginal constituencies.

Source: The Conservatives Are Paying To Push Theresa May Into Your Instagram Feed

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