Persuasion Machine

BBC Worldwide Learning

Jamie Bartlett reveals how Silicon Valley's mission to connect the world is disrupting democracy. Many of the tech gods were dismayed when Donald Trump won the American presidency, but did they actually help him win? With the help of a key insider from the Trump campaign's digital operation, Jamie unravels the role played by social media in getting Trump into the White House. He learns how Facebook's vast power to persuade was first built for advertisers, combining data about our internet use and psychological insights into how we think. A leading psychologist then shows Jamie how Facebook's hoard of data can be used to predict our personalities and other psychological traits. Exploring the emotional mechanisms that supercharge the spread of fake news on social media, Jamie reveals how Silicon Valley's persuasion machine is now being exploited by political forces of all kinds, in ways no one may be able to stop.