by Taylor Shipley
Blog represents opinions of the author.
This upcoming election continues a noticeable push to vote by social media platforms.
Social media is so prevalent in our society today, especially with younger generations like millennials and Generation-Z. Social media has proven to be a useful tool in spreading information quickly among large groups of people.
With mail-in ballots a prominent form of voting this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, citizens need to stay on top of deadlines when mailing in their ballot. It is also crucial for in-person voters to find their voting locations ahead of time and prepare for the long lines. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat encouraged users to register and take action this election season.
Will Morris, a University of Missouri journalism student, of Omaha, said he noticed the prominent social media presence in this year’s push to vote.
“In 2016, people were still pushing the message to vote, but it would be celebrities, athletes or people on social media,” Morris said. “Suddenly, you got the social media platforms themselves are chiming in trying to get people to vote, which is not something I have ever seen.”
Facebook and Instagram:
For the past couple of months, Facebook and Instagram had pop-up prompts at the top of the page upon logging in, asking users to register to vote and participate in this 2020 election. Facebook and Instagram created voting information centers that lead users to official pages for more voter registration information. By clicking on the pop-up, users had the option to see if they were registered and request a mail-in ballot.
Facebook registered an estimated 4.4 million people to vote this year, according to a Facebook post from Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.
“This year, we launched the largest voting information campaign in U.S. history, with the goal of helping 4 million people register to vote,” Zuckerberg said in his Facebook post. “Today, we hit our goal.”
Twitter:
In a blog post published by Twitter, the company confirmed additional steps to get ahead of the 2020 U.S. Election. Twitter expanded its civic integrity policy to handle misleading information surrounding this event. The company also added warning labels on misleading tweets regarding the election. Following the warning label, Twitter includes a prompt that directs users to credible sources.
Twitter launched a push to increase voter participation by including new tools and in-app experiences that make it easy for users to find the latest news and information regarding the presidential election. One of the new creations was the U.S. Election Hub located at the top of the search page on Twitter. The U.S. Election Hub contained credible news about the election and voting resources for users. The app encouraged voter registration emphasizing safe voting options.
Snapchat:
Snapchat has a direct reach to Gen-Z and Millennials, compared to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, who are still popular among other demographics. The company released new features in preparation for the 2020 election.
Snapchat added a pop-up button that allows users to check if they are registered. The feature includes a voter guide and checklist to help users navigate the different voting options. Once the deadlines to register pass, they give users the chance to fill out a sample ballot to prepare before voting. The button also offers tips for voting when the day comes, like if you stay in line when the polling location closes, you can still vote. Snapchat also added voting themed stickers that users can use to spread the importance of this year’s election.
“This is this possibly one of the most contentious and consequential elections thus far,” Morris said. “That’s where this conversation about making sure people get the message out to vote is so prominent on social media this election.”
The push to vote has never been more prevalent on social media platforms than it is now. The new features and constant reminders show users that their vote is essential in determining this election’s outcome. The future of the United States is heavily reliant on younger generations and it all starts with voting.
