THE MASTER'S TOOLS

摘要

Three months before Election Day, James Barnes telecon-ferenced into a strategy meeting about how, exactly, to persuade people not to vote for Donald Trump. The 32-year-old wore his hair loosely gathered in a man bun and had the sober expression of someone who, as a hazard of his occupation, thinks about the president nearly all the time. Other faces popped up on his monitor, offering glimpses into millennial apartments, until someone started a screen share. They were here to review a series of video testimonials by conservatives who had decided to oppose Trump. Barnes and his colleagues wanted to know which ones resonated most with prospective voters on Face-book. Were testimonials from men or women more effective? Midwestern-ers or Southerners? How many viewers made it past the first 15 seconds? Barnes, who works at the political nonprofit Acronym, attends these meetings every week. His team has two goals-to nudge voters away from Trump and to close what he politely calls the "enthusiasm gap" for Joe Biden. Using a custom-built tool dubbed Barometer, they micro-target "movable" voters on Face-book, run randomized tests to see what kind of ads work best, and then adjust them to taste.