CNN and Facebook have teamed up to create an election tool that will display 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, Paul Ryan.
Facebook-CNN Election Insights, found at CNN.com/FBinsights, displays dynamic, real-time charts and visualisations 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.
“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 of corporate communications and public policy at Facebook.
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. CNN’s daily ‘Political Gut Check’ newsletter and the US Politics on Facebook Page will feature highlights from the tool.
The 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 US users. Earlier this year, 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.
