Illinois News Network (Chicago, Sept. 13) – Facebook has donated more than $250,000 to Illinois state senators and representatives since 2015, spending that U. of I. digital media professor Mike Yao says may be more of an effort to pre-empt future regulatory measures or boost brand awareness than serious lobbying. “I see this as a brand communication strategy, meaning that now all the politicians are more aware of this platform called Facebook, they’ll pay more attention,” Yao says.
