PRESS
RELEASE from CNN/Facebook
August 27, 2012
Facebook, CNN
Unveil 'Election Insights'
Real-time tool
measures Obama, Romney, Biden, and Ryan buzz
MENLO PARK, Calif. & ATLANTA, Ga. – CNN, America’s most trusted
source of news and information for the 2012 presidential campaigns, and
Facebook® today unveiled the Facebook-CNN Election Insights. This
tool displays the real-time number of people talking about President
Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, presumptive Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his vice presidential pick Rep.
Paul Ryan.
Facebook-CNN Election Insights - found at CNN.com/FBinsights– displays
dynamic, real-time charts and visualizations using Facebook Insights to
gauge the volume of Facebook activity surrounding the election and
candidates. CNN will use the tool, which also allows people to view
data by geography and demography, during their coverage of the
presidential election.
Working with social integration platform Mass Relevance, Facebook and
CNN have created an experience that allows people to:
· View trends about how many people are talking about each of
the candidates across the United States.
· Understand distinctions between who is talking about which
candidates in those states — male vs. female, and by age group.
· Contribute to the ongoing conversation via a Facebook Comments
plug-in.
· “Like” the overall Election Insights, CNN Politics, Obama,
Romney, Biden, and Ryan Facebook Pages
Facebook-CNN Election Insights will be used during CNN broadcasts,
including regular segments on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf
Blitzer” as well as in CNN.com and CNN Mobile campaign coverage.
Notably, CNN’s daily “Political Gut Check” newsletter and the U.S.
Politics on Facebook Page will feature highlights from the tool.
“We are excited to build on our long relationship with Facebook to
transform social media conversation into real-time data,” said CNN
Digital SVP KC Estenson. “By teaming up with Facebook and Mass
Relevance, we can effectively gauge the buzz surrounding this election
and deliver it to CNN Digital users, literally as it’s happening.”
"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," said
Elliot Schrage, Vice President-Corporate Communications & Public
Policy at Facebook.
Today’s launch builds on a previously announced multi-platform
partnership between CNN and Facebook intended to bring an interactive
and uniquely social experience to CNN’s on-air, mobile and online
audiences and Facebook’s more than 160 million U.S. users. The
Facebook-CNN Election Insights tool is powered by Facebook Insights and
was designed and developed by Mass Relevance, a social integration firm
that specializes in the curation and display of real-time social
content.
Earlier this summer, CNN and Facebook announced the joint creation of
an “I'm Voting” application that enables people using Facebook to
commit to voting, endorse specific candidates and positions, and see
how their choices compare to what their friends are saying. Responses
are visually displayed on an interactive map of the United States. The
app, available in English and Spanish, was launched last week and can
be found at Facebook.com/ImVoting.
Facebook-CNN Election Insights Methodology: Facebook-CNN Election
Insights uses Facebook Page Insights and the metric “People Talking
About This” (PTAT), supplemented with aggregate mentions, to gauge the
volume of unique people talking about the candidates on Facebook each
day. The data provided is aggregate and anonymous. The basic version of
PTAT displayed on every Facebook Page is based on users’ “likes” (of a
page, a page post, or other page content), comments, and tags over the
last seven days.
About Facebook: Launched in
February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that gives people the power
to share and make the world more open and connected. Facebook has
connected more than 900 million people around the world and has played
a role in encouraging civic and political engagement. Governments,
lawmakers, and political campaigns around the world are using Facebook
to communicate authentically with citizens in ways unimaginable a
decade ago.
About CNN: About CNN: CNN
Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time
Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information.
For more than 5 consecutive years, CNN Digital has remained No. 1 in
mobile news with an average of more than 21 million unique visitors per
month. CNN’s applications for iPhone, iPad, Nokia, Windows 7 phone, and
Android phone & tablet have been downloaded more than 22 million
times to date. With 3.7 million Facebook fans and nearly 6 million
Twitter followers of @CNN, 8.5 million @CNNBRK followers, and more than
30 million followers across all network handles, CNN is the most
followed news organization on social media and has more followers than
any other cable brand.
About Mass Relevance: Mass
Relevance enables entertainment, media, retail, and manufacturing
brands to drive real-time engagement through social curation and
integration. The company provides a flexible, robust platform to
facilitate audience and consumer interactions in a relevant, moderated
way that is proven to deliver measurable results. The company serves
more than 130 clients including the “Big Four” television networks, 7
of the top 10 2011 cable networks, as well as top brands like Ford,
Target, Universal Pictures, MTV, Samsung, Patagonia, Pepsi, GE and
Victoria's Secret. The company is privately held with venture capital
funding.
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CNN contact: Matt Dornic
Facebook contact: Andrew Noyes