Michael J. Socolow, professor and chair of the University of Maine Department of Communication and Journalism, and Sepideh Ghanavati, associate professor of computer science, spoke with on the increase in political text messages. Socolow said two major factors help explain the increase: money and technology. “Technology makes it very easy and cost-effective to spam lots of people’s phones,” Socolow said. Ghanavati said cheap, accessible voter information is another key part of the equation. She recommends avoiding suspicious links, being cautious about political websites that request personal information, and limiting how much data you share online.
