Researchers find Facebook peer pressure gets out the vote

[Playinghardball]

A single Facebook message on a congressional election day in 2010 prompted about a third of a million more Americans to cast their vote, scientists said on Wednesday.

The biggest-ever experiment into social networking confirms that peer pressure in cyberspace helps get out the vote in the real world, they said.

On November 2, 2010, 60 million Americans who logged onto Facebook saw a non-partisan prompt at the top of their newsfeeds.

It comprised a message that said “Today is Election Day”; a clickable “I Voted” button; a link to local polling places; a counter on how many Facebook users had already reported voting; and up to six pictures of close Facebook “friends” who said they had already voted.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/12/researchers-find-facebook-peer-pressure-gets-out-the-vote/

[kestrel91316]

1. RW to target FB for destruction (or at least taking it down on election day) in 3...2...1...