Joel Penney, Citizen Marketer: Promoting Political Opinion in the Social Media Age

Abstract

In The Citizen Marketer: Promoting Political Opinion in the Social Media Age, Joel Penney analyzes how ordinary citizens adopt digital marketing strategies and viral dynamics to promote political ideas on social media. Through the concept of the "citizen marketer," the author argues that low-effort online activism, often dismissed as slacktivism, possesses real democratic value by amplifying the visibility of causes and decentralizing political communication, although he warns about the simplification and polarization generated by this advertising logic.