Melissa M. Smith is a professor of communication and holds the Gibbons Chair of Journalism at Mississippi University for Women, USA. Along with publishing and presenting several articles in political communication, she was coauthor of Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game (2010), Dark Money, Super PACs and the 2012 Election (2014), and author of Third Parties, Outsiders, and Renegades: Modern Challenges to the Two-Party System in Presidential Elections (2022).

• PART I A Bit of History, a Bit of the Future1 Introduction2 Social and Mobile Media in Political Campaigns: A Short HistoryPART II Marketing a Candidate’s Image3 Negative Campaigning on Social Media4 TikTok Trolling as a Political Campaign Strategy in 2022 Midterm Elections5 Controlling the Narrative on Social MediaPART III Distributing Political Messages6 Social Media and Politics: Young Voters’ Perceptions and Motivations7 Content Creators and Campaigns8 Foreign Misinformation Campaigns and McLuhan’s Fifth EpochPART IV Return on Investment9 Campaign Fundraising and Social Media10 Michael Bloomberg: When All the Money in the World Can’t Sell a Bad Candidate11 Can Social Media Turn Out Voters for Political Candidates?12 Conclusions