Written by Alexandra Robins

The 2024 US presidential election 

This week, Americans cast their votes to decide the next 47th President of the United States. We’ve been closely following the campaign strategies and tactics employed by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the lead up to election day. Both candidates focused their efforts on key swing states, with Kamala Harris even making a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live. 

The IMPACT team is disappointed to see that America has passed on its second historic opportunity to elect a female president.  

Social media hasn’t killed the video star 

 According to Deloitte’s Media and Entertainment Consumer Insights 2024 study, free-to-air advertising remains the most influential medium for older generations, with Baby Boomers and Gen X favouring TV ads. In contrast, Gen Z and Millennials are more influenced by social media, shopping sites, and streaming services, with Millennials also turning to search engines. Older audiences still value radio, newspapers, and sports ads. 

While free-to-air is still impactful, digital formats are gaining ground, as Australians now split their viewing time equally between streaming and TV. The Commonwealth Bank also recently launch its owned media network to engage customers across digital and physical channels. 

The least trusted professions in Australia 

The latest Ipsos Trustworthiness Index has revealed that advertising executives are the least trusted profession in Australia, closely followed by social media influencers, politicians and pollsters.  

The Index measures the difference between the proportion of people who find a profession trustworthy versus those who do not. Social media influencers were new to the Index this year, and only politicians have a worse net score.  

The global findings highlight doctors, scientists and teachers are consistently ranked the most trusted professions, while politicians are universally the least trusted. Ipsos Australia’s David Elliot said while trust is still strong among experts, the lack of trust in professions like politicians, bankers, journalists and business leaders is concerning.  

Insiders speak out on social media safety  

Whistleblowers and former insiders from major social media platforms warn that user safety measures are becoming increasingly ineffective. Former employees from Meta and X (formerly Twitter), have expressed concern over the rise of disinformation, threats to democracy, and harm, especially to young users.  

Meta whistleblowers highlighted the abandonment of safeguards on Instagram and the reduction of safety team resources on Facebook. Similarly, X’s transformation under Elon Musk has led to the prioritisation of free speech over the quality of information, amplifying harmful content.