Facebook App Helps You Share Political Views
Want to wear your political allegiance proudly on your Facebook profile this election season? You’re in luck — Facebook and CNN have released an app helping Facebook users easily share their stances on the candidates and campaign issues with the power of Facebook’s Open Graph.When users first load the app, they’re asked to commit to voting on Election Day. If they do, they can share that commitment to their friends’ news feeds, perhaps creating some peer pressure to get others to vote as well.
Then, users can answer a series of questions about their political leanings, favorite candidates and stances on various issues, including the economy and healthcare, the responses to which can also be shared with friends in their newsfeeds and tickers.
“With Election Day right around the corner, it’s time for everyone to get involved, understand the issues, and make a commitment to participate,” wrote Facebook’s Politics & Government Team in a blog post. “We believe that the power of friends –- the social dynamic that creates a societal impact — will result in a more involved citizenry that turns out on Election Day, informed about the most critical issues facing the nation.”
“Everyone’s talking about politics and the election on Facebook to begin with,” said Drew Rayman of Tenthwave Digital, which developed the app. “We wanted to see how we could create an app that lives on Facebook and lets users talk about the issues that are important to them and see what the rest of the nation is talking about. Politics has always been discussed on Facebook, but this is really the first shot over the bow in allowing such a huge social community to get involved and speak their mind to a much larger platform.”
Users can also choose to have their answers anonymously gathered by the app, creating a wealth of social data about Facebook users’ political leanings organized on a state-by-state basis. Any user can access that data on the app’s interactive map. Additionally, CNN will treat the app as a “second screen” experience for its politics coverage, asking viewers to submit answers to questions via Facebook and referencing users’ posted opinions throughout the election.
“If a user opts-in, they’ll share their sentiment in a way that will contribute to CNN’s understanding of people’s opinions across Facebook,” said Rayman. “After the election’s over, we’ll have a world of data that may tell us some very interesting things for next time.”
The app, which can be accessed here, is available in both English and Spanish-language versions.
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Facebook's "U.S. Politics" blog post announcing the launch of "I'm voting."
Former Speaker of the House Tip O’ Neill used to say that all politics is local. Today all politics is social – and the 2012 campaign is shaping up to be most social in history. With that in mind, Facebook and CNN are thrilled to launch the “I’m Voting” app -- an interactive and uniquely social tool that will make it even easier for the people who use Facebook to make their voices heard this election cycle.
The app, created by platform developer and digital marketing agency Tenthwave Digital, allows users to both make a commitment to vote, and to choose the candidates and issues that matter most to them – the economy, health care, immigration, foreign policy (see screenshots below).
Here are a few highlights of the “I’m Voting” app:
- Social by Design -- The app is social by design, helping people see where their Facebook friends stand on certain issues. The Open Graph enabled app allows people to keep their views private or share with friends through Facebook Timeline, News Feed, and real-time Ticker.
- Visually Engaging – The app lets people see how many of their Facebook friends have joined them in supporting particular issues or candidates – and those commitments are displayed on an interactive map.
- Mobile and Second Screen – The app, which is available on mobile and desktop devices, will serve as a “second screen” for CNN’s on-air and online content. CNN will utilize the app to ask Facebook users about the important issues driving the national dialogue, and then report on their answers.
- English and Spanish – The app will be available in both English and Spanish in an effort to reach and engage a broad community.
With Election Day right around the corner, it’s time for everyone to get involved, understand the issues, and make a commitment to participate. We believe that the power of friends – the social dynamic that creates a societal impact -- will result in a more involved citizenry that turns out on Election Day, informed about the most critical issues facing the nation.
Let’s all make the commitment: “I’m voting.”
-- Facebook Politics & Government Team
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