Cruz's Social Media Weapon

     One of the more prolific social media users amongst the Republicans, Ted Cruz and his staff have been working to saturate the political battlefield with information. Not only have they used Twitter, Facebook, and their own website but his campaign is the only one that has a downloadable app to monitor information coming out from his camp. In an article from the Washington Post, Cruz’s campaign has taken research to the next level. Using psychological data from polls and responses, the Cruz campaign can tailor the information sent to individual voters in order to match their personalities and improve their chances of gaining support from those voters. Along with other data collection, Cruz has been using geo-fencing, a method to use technology to tailor information to arbitrarily selected geographical areas. He has used this method at National Rifle Association meetings, sending campaign info to only those who were in attendance at the meeting venue.

  

          Cruz has also taken to openly attacking and criticizing Donald Trump on social media. Whether it is retaliation over Trump’s attacks on Cruz’s citizenship or regular political sparing; Cruz is on the attack. Over the last 24 hours, Cruz has referenced Trump directly four times, bringing up Trump’s unwillingness to attend the upcoming Republican debate and challenging him to a one on one. Cruz’s campaign has also been quick to create merchandise calling out Trump for abstaining from the debate. Though not as popular overall on social media, Cruz’s campaign wins points for their thoroughness and speed.