Friday, 30 May 2014

Facebook's 'I'm a Voter' feature encouraged 340,000 extra people to vote in the US in 2010

"Facebook is rolling out its "I'm a voter" feature worldwide, after the app's success in the Indian elections in early May.
More than four million Indian voters clicked the button, registering that they had voted during the country's parliamentary elections, according to Reuters. Thanks to that success, the company is rolling the feature out for a number of upcoming elections.
Facebook users in the EU, Colombia, South Korea, Indonesia, New Zealand and Brazil will all have the option to broadcast their status as voters. Scottish voters will have the chance to click the button twice, in both the European parliament elections and the referendum for Scottish independence.
The feature was first introduced for the 2010 US mid-term elections, and by 2012, more than nine million voters had clicked it to report that they had taken part in the US presidential election.
Now that the feature is active worldwide, Facebook estimates that a third of its active users will see the message in their news feeds at some point this year – more than 400 million people.
And it's about more than just over-sharing. In 2010, the feature was credited with encouraging 340,000 people to vote who would otherwise have stayed at home."

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