Inside Facebook
Inside Facebook |
| Posted: 06 Nov 2012 03:59 PM PST
Both candidates have used Facebook extensively over the course of the campaign. Romney’s camp seemed more adept at running Facebook ads, as we’ve written about previously, but Obama’s team is now showing its strength in apps. The Obama 2012 app has taken advantage of the notifications beta to remind users to vote and contact friends in swing states. The app, which is accessible from Facebook and BarackObama.com, has 1.1 million monthly active users.
A similar app for Mitt Romney called Commit to Mitt has only 30,000 MAU. However, Romney’s page also features a Stand With Mitt app with 40,000 MAU and a Stand With Mitt Photo Upload app with 2,000 MAU. There may be some overlap in users of those three apps, but even if the totals were discrete, that’s still more than 1 million fewer monthly active users than Obama’s app has.
The candidates’ store and donate apps are tied for usage. The stores have 20,000 MAU each, and the donation apps each have 10,000 MAU. Obama’s page has a email collection form with 4,000 MAU. There is no equivalent app on Romney’s page. Romney has four other apps on his page that Obama doesn’t have. One is a pledge of support for American small businesses with 10,000 MAU. A petition app against Obama’s economic policies has 2,000 MAU, and a petition app against Obama’s heathcare policy has 1,000 MAU. Finally, there’s an app called “What’s Your Take” that asks users about issues, which has 900 monthly active users. Again, there may be overlap in users here, but even if there wasn’t, the totals are still less than the 1.1 million Obama has with his main app.
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| Facebook gets out the vote, this time with mobile prompts and a real-time map Posted: 06 Nov 2012 10:26 AM PST Once again, Facebook is prompting users to share that they voted, though this year the social network has introduced a mobile component and a real-time map of voters. Most voting-age Facebook users in the U.S. were met with a module atop their News Feed highlighting friends who have voted and including a button to share "I'm voting" or "I'm a voter." This was available on mobile and desktop.
Some users were prompted with a notification rather than a News Feed module. Users could then say they voted or search for their polling place.
Facebook also created a map that updates in real-time showing where users are voting. The map lives on the new Facebook Stories website, along with a breakdown of age and gender of who is saying they're voting.
Facebook has been active in promoting participation in U.S. national elections since 2008, when 5.4 million people clicked an "I voted" button. More than 12 million people did the same during the 2010 midterm election. That year Facebook introduced a polling place locator as well. A recent study found that 340,000 additional people showed up at the ballot box in the U.S. in 2010 because of a voting message in their feed. Some users might not see the prompt to share that they voted today because they are part of a control group for a new study, but they can still view the real-time map or use a separate I’m Voting application created in partnership with CNN. Users can share who they’re voting for and thoughts on various issues. The Open Graph-enabled app displays users' answers and pledges in Ticker, Timeline and News Feed.
Additionally, Facebook has provided CNN with metrics about the discussion of each presidential and vice presidential candidate on the social network. The companies also surveyed voting-age users around the time of the national conventions, presidential debates, election day and any other significant dates. This was 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. 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. |
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