Facebook, Google and Twitter tackle the election
The big three of social media -- Facebook, Google and Twitter -- are helping users get information for today’s election with various tools on their respective sites.
Facebook, for example, is reminding its users who are older than 18 to go out and vote with notifications that appear atop their News Feed. Those users will also be able to click “I’m a Voter” or “I’m Voting” buttons that will show up on their timelines and their friends’ feeds.
Besides reminding users to vote, Facebook is also using its U.S. Politics on Facebook page to provide users with information about today’s election.
Additionally, the Menlo Park-based social network has set up a neat little map that shows you each time a person indicates they have voted. Blue circles burst on the map showing where those voters are located. You can check out the map here.
Perhaps Facebook’s most useful tool, though, is its Polling Place Locator. That shows users where their polling location is after they type in their address.
Similarly, Google has set up a Polling Place Lookup. Once you type in your address, the tool shows you where to go vote as well as the candidates for each of the offices you will be voting for. If possible, the tool will direct you to the candidates’ websites as well as their Facebook, Twitter or even their YouTube accounts.
That tool is part of Google’s Politics & Elections hub, which links to news about the election, YouTube channels covering the election and other information.
Meanwhile, Twitter has set up an election event page under the hashtag #election2012. That page is linking to pictures and tweets relevant to the election that are being curated.
Twitter is also using the @gov account to tweet out information about the election. The account also links to a list of Twitter accounts for each state’s secretary of state.
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