With the 2012 US Presidential Election drawing near, social media once again meets broadcast media. Last Monday, CNN partnered with Facebook to launch a new tool that tracks buzz with regards to the presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Called the Election Insights, this tool displays a layout of maps, charts and other visualizations that shows how many people are talking about President Barrack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan on the social network. It also enables people to sort the analysis based on gender, state, region and time period.
Delving Deeper on Election Insights
CNN’s data hub uses Facebook’s Page Insights and People Talking About This tools. The data is incorporated with the mentions across the social network, so that they can calculate how much buzz each candidate is generating everyday.
The information gathered with the help of Mass Relevance, a social integration platform, will be used on the network’s broadcast shows during the campaign. As stated by Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s vice president of corporate communications and public policy, in a press release:
Facebook is naturally a place where friends engage in political discourse, and we’re pleased to announce that the Facebook-CNN Election Insights tool will offer an interactive, real-time glimpse into how and where this conversation is taking place across the country.
Facebook and CNN’s ‘I’m Voting’ App
This is not the first time that Facebook and CNN teamed up for the 2012 campaign season. Last week, they also launched an app called I’m Voting, which enables users to share their opinions about candidates and campaign issues with the help of the social network’s Open Graph.
When users load the app for the first time, they will be asked to commit on voting on Election Day. After that, they can share the commitment with their friend’s New Feeds, perhaps creating some peer pressure on it. As posted by Facebook’s Politics and Government Team in a blog post:
With Election Day right around the corner, it’s time for everyone to get involved, understanding the issues, and make a commitment to participate. We believe that the power for 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.
Do you think Facebook and CNN’s Election Insight will provide accurate or skewed data? Share your opinions on the comment section below.
