NEWS
from Facebook
November 6, 2012
Election Day
2012 on FacebookNovember 6, 2012
Today
is Election Day in the United States and Facebook is committed to
encouraging people who use our service to participate in the democratic
process. As a result, Facebook is focused on ensuring that those who
are eligible to vote know where they can cast their ballots and, if
they wish, share the fact that they voted with their friends.
Similar to 2008 and 2010, U.S. Facebook users over age 18 will see a message at the top of their News Feed reminding them that it is Election Day and to go vote. The Facebook message will also contain a link to the Facebook Polling Place Locator (http://bit.ly/Fbppl), an application that lets users find out where they can vote. The app was developed with data from the non-partisan Voting Information Project (http://votinginfoproject.org) and is a joint project of VIP, Facebook and Microsoft.
We also will employ several social features that let people on Facebook encourage their friends to participate in Election Day.
Users over age 18 will be able to click an "I'm Voting" or "I'm a Voter" button and post a story to their Facebook Timeline telling their friends that they have voted. This will also appear in their friends’ News Feeds. Individuals will also see the faces of their friends that have already shared that they are voters and a real-time counter will display the number of people in the United States who have clicked the button.
More than 5.4 million people indicated on Facebook that they voted on Election Day 2008 and more than 12 million people clicked the button during the 2010 midterm election. About one third of a million more people showed up at the ballot box in the U.S. in 2010 because of the Facebook message on Election Day, a recent study led by the University of California, San Diego found (read more: http://bit.ly/FbUCSD).
After clicking the "I'm Voting" or "I'm a Voter" button today, users will be able to visit a real-time heat map on our Facebook Stories website that will display in aggregate where people on Facebook are voting throughout the country. Anyone can view that map at facebookstories.com/vote.
Throughout Election Day and night, the U.S. Politics on Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/uspolitics)
will
be
a
hub for information, photos, and other election-related
activity taking place on Facebook. The U.S. Politics on Facebook Page
will also provide insights from the Facebook Talk Meter, which will
measure Facebook election buzz on a 10-point scale.
Contact Information
Slater Tow
November 8, 2012
Similar to 2008 and 2010, U.S. Facebook users over age 18 will see a message at the top of their News Feed reminding them that it is Election Day and to go vote. The Facebook message will also contain a link to the Facebook Polling Place Locator (http://bit.ly/Fbppl), an application that lets users find out where they can vote. The app was developed with data from the non-partisan Voting Information Project (http://votinginfoproject.org) and is a joint project of VIP, Facebook and Microsoft.
We also will employ several social features that let people on Facebook encourage their friends to participate in Election Day.
Users over age 18 will be able to click an "I'm Voting" or "I'm a Voter" button and post a story to their Facebook Timeline telling their friends that they have voted. This will also appear in their friends’ News Feeds. Individuals will also see the faces of their friends that have already shared that they are voters and a real-time counter will display the number of people in the United States who have clicked the button.
More than 5.4 million people indicated on Facebook that they voted on Election Day 2008 and more than 12 million people clicked the button during the 2010 midterm election. About one third of a million more people showed up at the ballot box in the U.S. in 2010 because of the Facebook message on Election Day, a recent study led by the University of California, San Diego found (read more: http://bit.ly/FbUCSD).
After clicking the "I'm Voting" or "I'm a Voter" button today, users will be able to visit a real-time heat map on our Facebook Stories website that will display in aggregate where people on Facebook are voting throughout the country. Anyone can view that map at facebookstories.com/vote.
Contact Information
Slater Tow
2012 Election Activity on Facebook
By Betsy Cameron
On Election Day in the United States, an extraordinary number of people used Facebook to share their thoughts and reactions. We tracked 71.7 million election-related mentions made by users within the U.S. -- enough to score a 9.27 on the Facebook Talk Meter, the highest score of U.S.-based events that we have measured for 2012. To put that in perspective, the 2012 Super Bowl scored a 8.62 on the Talk Meter, while the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series tracked at a 6.1.
Election discussion on Facebook was a global phenomenon, too - outside the U.S., Election Day scored an 8.28 on the Talk Meter, with additional buzz to bring the total to 88.7 million mentions made worldwide on Nov. 6 pertaining to the election.
Throughout the campaign, men were slightly more likely to discuss the politics on Facebook, but the gap narrowed on Election Day, when women and men shared their reactions in nearly equal proportion. Unsurprisingly, people in Washington, D.C. were frequently the most likely to be discussing the campaign -- D.C. led the way during all four debates and on Election Day itself. But the day before the election, the most buzz came from New Hampshire, perhaps a nod to the fact that the election's first votes were cast in the tiny town of Dixville Notch, N.H.
In the run-up to the election, the 35 to 54 and 55+ age groups were the most likely to discuss each of the debates on Facebook. But on Election Day, this skewed a bit younger - Facebook buzz was highest among men and women aged 25 to 34, the youngest we saw at any point we tracked.
Looking at the entire campaign season, "Big Bird" was the most popular phrase, eking out a victory over the runner-up from the second debate, "Binders Full of Women." Both saw a slight resurgence on Election Day -- with "Big Bird" winning by a factor of 10.
Here's a list of the most-discussed terms on Facebook sampled at various moments during Election Day:
Election Day (11/6), 7 AM PT
1. Vote - all forms: Go vote (top phrase) / voting / get out and vote / I voted / the right to vote
2. Election Day / Happy Election Day
3. Line
4. Polls
5. Voice
6. Halo
7. Eagles
8. Exercise your right to vote
9. Freedom
10. Our Country
Election Day (11/6), 2:30 PM PT
1. Vote / Voted / Votes
2. Obama
3. Election
4. Romney
5. Ballot
6. Polling
7. Ohio
8. Freedom
9. Campaign
10. Machines
Election Day (11/6), 6 PM PT
1. Obama
2. Romney
3. Win / Wins / Winning / Win the election
4. Results / Election Results
5. Close
6. Electoral / Electoral Map / Electoral Votes
7. Won
8. If Romney Wins
9. CNN
10. Coverage / Election Coverage
Election Day (11/6), 10 PM PT
1. Obama
2. 4 more years / 4 years
3. President / President Obama
4. Thank God
5. Won / Wins
6. America
7. Country / My Country / This Country
8. Yes
9. Ohio
10. Florida