DrTristan Hotham

I research campaigns, platforms and elections.

I'm a researcher with a PhD in how British political parties campaign on social media. This is where I publish my open research, with plain-English summaries on the blog. I now work in the civil service.

Expertise

Digital political campaigning, targeted advertising and A/B testing, social media platforms and platform data and researcher access to data. I use quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the black box of social media.

Background

My ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Bath analysed how UK parties used Facebook from 2010 to 2018, and introduced the idea of Janus-faced campaigning. Before becoming a civil servant I was a research consultant for Who Targets Me during the 2019 General Election, gave written evidence to Parliament on digital technology and democracy, and commented for broadcasters and the press. Since 2021 I have been a civil servant.

What this site is for

This is my personal website. It brings my research, writing, media appearances and videos together in one place, with longer pieces on the blog. It is also home to my other interests: browser games, art and photography, and music. Views here are my own.