sciencetech-blog

comments

From posing for selfies to tweeting and vlogging, the battle to win votes on social media, has been at the heart of UK politicians' campaigns.

Now, with two days to go before the General Election, Facebook has revealed it's launching a new tool to encourage people to vote.

Facebook's 35 million UK users will be able to press the 'I'm a voter' button on Election Day to tell their Facebook friends they have visited the polling station – providing they are of voting age.

Facebook's 35 million UK users will be able to press the 'I'm a voter' button on Election Day to tell their Facebook friends they have visited the polling station – providing they are of voting age. The button is pictured above in examples of what users may see on May 7

The company said: 'Voters logging on to Facebook this Thursday will see a 'megaphone' message at the top of their Facebook News Feed, and will be able to click to share that they are voting with their friends.

'By clicking the button people can highlight their status as a voter to their Facebook friends, without specifying who they voted for.'

The button has previously been used in the last three US elections, the EU parliamentary election, the Scottish Referendum and in the world's largest democracy, India, where the megaphone reached 31 million people and 4.3 million people shared that they'd voted.

A study published in Nature in 2012 showed that conversation on Facebook ahead of an election can increase voter turnout, with 300,000 voters turning out to the polls in America in 2010, having seen Facebook posts from their friends.

And the Economy is the most mentioned election-related topic on the social network – leapfrogging Health, which echoes YouGov's most recent issues poll. Ed Miliband (left) is focusing on the NHS, while David Cameron (right) continues to talk about the Economy, as polling day approaches

It's hoped the button will have the same effect on UK voters on May 7.

'Politics is huge on Facebook, and with over 52 million interactions related to the General Election already this year, we fully expect it to be the most discussed topic in the UK in 2015, said Elizabeth Linder, Facebook's politics and government specialist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa

And the Economy is the most mentioned election-related topic, leapfrogging Health, which echoes YouGov's most recent issues poll.

This poll found that voters think the Economy, Immigration and Health are the biggest issues facing the UK.

In the five months between January 1 and May 1, there were over 4.5 million Economy-related interactions from 1.4 million people and the Economy was the most discussed topic in 350 of the 651 constituencies in the UK.

Interactions comprise likes, shares and comments.

This may be particularly interesting because Ed Miliband is focusing on the NHS in his speech today, while David Cameron is speaking about the Economy. 

Last night, Facebook showed the trending topics data as a giant pie chart on the Coca-Cola London Eye (pictured), opposite the Houses of Parliament. The Economy is represented by white light, Health by purple, Immigration by light blue, Tax by yellow and Crime by red

Health is a more popular topic in marginal seats, while the Economy was the most popular topic in the 50 'battleground' constituencies.

Europe and Immigration is the second most talked about issue in the UK with 3.7 million interactions from 1.3 million people so far, followed by Health, Tax and Crime.

Last night, Facebook showed the data as a giant pie chart on the Coca-Cola London Eye, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Visualisations over the past three nights have looked at the most discussed parties across the country, as well as among men and women.

Between January 1 and May 1, Ukip was the most discussed UK political party on Facebook, attracting 15.6 million interactions from three million people.

The Conservatives were the second most talked-about party with 12.2 million interactions from 2.5 million people, followed by Labour with 9.7 million interactions from two million people.

The Liberal Democrats saw two million interactions from 688,000 people and the SNP, two million interactions from 415,000 people.