Facebook and CNN team up for U.S. presidential election initiatives
Facebook has partnered with CNN to offer apps and insights related to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the social network announced today.
Facebook and CNN will launch an “I’m Voting” application for users to commit to vote and endorse particular candidates and issues. The Open Graph-enabled app will display users’ pledges to vote in Ticker, Timeline and News Feed, as well as in an interactive map. Facebook says the app, which will be available in English and Spanish, will serve as a “second screen” for CNN’s election coverage. CNN personalities will use the app to ask Facebook users questions throughout the election cycle and report on the results.
Facebook will also provide CNN with metrics about the discussion of each presidential and vice presidential candidate on the social network. The companies will survey voting-age users around the time of the national conventions, presidential debates, election day and any other significant dates. This is likely similar to the partnership Facebook had with Politico during the Republican primaries. Facebook also previously worked with NBC News to implement research polls leading up to the primaries.
Facebook has been active in promoting participation in U.S. national elections since 2008. On election day, Facebook has let users search for their polling place and publish an “I voted” status. In April 2011, the company held a live townhall with President Barack Obama at its Palo Alto headquarters. Most recently, the social network co-sponsored the GOP presidential debate before the New Hampshire Republican primary with NBC’s “Meet The Press” and partnered with R/GA to produce a political polling app, 2012 Matters: What Matters Most. Through the app, users could indicate which issues were most important to them and have their answers appear on the Nasdaq digital billboard in Times Square.
Readers can follow how the candidates’ Facebook fan bases are growing and how many people are talking about their pages by using our Inside Facebook Election Tracker and PageData service.
July 10th, 2012 at 5:01 am
[...] Facebook, CNN Team Up for U.S. Presidential Election Initiatives (Inside Facebook) Facebook has partnered with CNN to offer apps and insights related to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the social network announced Monday. Facebook and CNN will launch an “I’m Voting” application for users to commit to vote and endorse particular candidates and issues. San Francisco Chronicle The app will display votes on Facebook members’ timelines, news feeds and real-time tickers and then be used for a state-by-state interactive map. The two companies are also teaming up to measure the Facebook discussions of the campaigns of President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney and to survey voting-age U.S. residents. CNET While Facebook has long been used as a political tool — many noted how social media gave Obama an advantage when he ran in 2008 — and a way to promote one’s causes, but this takes an official stab at voting transparency. And Facebook is big on transparency. Adweek With ratings falling to a 21-year low in the second quarter of this year, CNN needs to make bold moves to draw viewers to its broadcasts, and it’s betting that Facebook is the answer. If the app catches on with users, CNN may be able to take the pulse of the electorate in useful, real-time ways. [...]