Instagram Political Ad Experiment Participants in 2020 U.S. Election Study

Meta Platforms, Inc. and academic researchers collected data on participant treatment assignment and engagement with civic content on Instagram during the 2020 U.S. election. The dataset focuses on a political ads holdout experiment, measuring exposure to social issues, elections, and political ads for control group participants.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between treatment assignment and subsequent engagement with civic content on Instagram.
• Compare exposure to social issues, elections, and political ads between control and treatment groups.
• Study the impact of the political ads holdout on key political attitudes and behaviors documented in the US 2020 FIES.

Strengths

• Data originates from a formal partnership between Meta Platforms, Inc. and academic researchers, ensuring direct platform access.
• Focuses on a specific, policy-relevant experiment concerning political advertising on a major social media platform.
• Part of the broader U.S. 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study, providing contextual relevance to a major political event.

Limitations

• Specific sample size, column details, and data structure are unknown, limiting analytical planning.
• Data is restricted to Instagram users who participated in the study, which may not be representative of the broader population.
• The dataset's completeness and availability of key behavioral metrics are not described.

Provenance

Source

Meta Platforms, Inc., via the ICPSR Harvested Dataverse repository.

Collection Method

Collected as part of the U.S. 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study, involving a controlled holdout experiment on the Instagram platform.

Time Range

Centered on the period of the 2020 U.S. election.

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-02-23, but the underlying data covers the 2020 U.S. election period.

Geography

United States.