NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For some it's annoying, for others it's a good reminder to get out there and vote, and for politicians, it's a critical tool when it comes to campaigning.
"It's better than a phone call, right? Because it takes you five minutes to talk to somebody and in that five minutes you can send a thousand texts," said Joseph Bamber, associate professor of marketing at Lipscomb University.
Political campaign text messages are a cheap and easy way to get voters' attention.
"'You've always got your phone with you. They're five times higher open rate than email, approximately, 60 to 70, 80% open rate on a text versus 10 to 20% on an email," said Bamber.
Using voter registration info or buying data from companies, campaigns are turning to text messages to win over voters.
"About 10 years ago, there were some studies done that show that texting was very effective in mobilizing people to vote and getting them there," said Bamber. "So that started in '08 with Obama, and then 2016 Bernie Sanders was very successful."
According to the Federal Communications Commission, robotexts require prior consent. But campaign texts sent by a real person, like a volunteer, fall under a loophole and do not require consent from the person on the other end.
"Money speaks, results speak and right now if there's no fines or legal implications for companies to do that, they'll do what works, right?" Bamber said.
Although there is no way to completely block campaign texts, there are some things you can do to minimize them:
- Don't give out your phone number.
- Reply with the word "STOP." Campaigns should honor opt-out requests.
- Check out the settings in your phone- select the “filter unknown senders” or enable spam protection.
And if you think you've been receiving robotexts, you can file a complaint with the FCC.
