Facebook and CNN Create ‘I’m Voting’ App Just in Time for Election Day

Wearing your political heart on your Facebook sleeve just got a whole lot easier (as if it weren’t easy enough), thanks to a new app courtesy of Facebook and CNN.

With the app, Facebook users need only click here and there a few times in order to broadcast their standpoints on candidates and every campaign issue from healthcare to gay rights to military spending and more

The only requirement to use to the app is a commitment to vote on Election Day via a prompt that looks something like this:

Once pledged, it’s off to the races for FB users all over the world – users can then answer a never-ending litany of questions about all sorts of political issues, why they favor certain candidates, and maybe even offer education to fellow Facebookers regarding some issues that are not so easy to understand. The result: a great venue for lots of different people to bounce ideas around, learn from each other, gather in an effort to make a societal effort to make a change – and just generally become more involved.

Blogged Facebook’s Politics & Government Team (yes, there is such a thing):

“With Election Day right around the corner, it’s time for everyone to get involved understand the issues and make a commitment to participate. We believe that the power of friends 0 the social dynamic that creates a societal impact – will result in a more involved citizenry that turns out on Election Day, informed about the most critical issues facing the nation…Let’s all make the commitment: ‘I’m voting’”.

A few of the features you will find delivered by the I’m Voting” app is:

  • An Open Graph, social design which allows people to see exactly where there friends stand on particular political topics. The design is flexible enough to allow users to keep their opinions private or broadcast them into the FB abyss
  • An Interactive Map that allows users to keep track of how many friends stand alongside – or against – them on certain issues
  • Mobile and Second Screen capability, permitting access of the app via both mobile and desktop devices (which will also serve as a “second screen” that displays CNN’s content either from TV or online
  • Bilingualism: the app will be accessible by both English and Spanish-speaking communities, in en effort to bring a vaster population into the voting booths

The app’s development company is Tenthwave Digital, one member of which, Drew Rayman, had to say:

“Everyone’s talking about politics and the election on Facebook to begin with. “We wanted to see how we could create an app that lives on Facebook and lets users talk about the issues that are important to them and see what the rest of the nation is talking about. Politics has always been discussed on Facebook, but this is really the first shot over the bow in allowing such a huge social community to get involved and speak their mind to a much larger platform.”