Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in June that the social network’s goal was to register 4 million voters prior to November’s presidential election in the U.S. The company said Monday, on the eve of National Voter Registration Day, that it was up to 2.5 million, and it outlined steps it is taking to meet its…
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has given TikTok’s deal his “blessing,” saying he “conceptually” approved the agreement, which would see TikTok partner with Oracle, Walmart and other investors to become a U.S. company, spun off from owners ByteDance. The administration previously indicated that ByteDance will spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations as a new…
Americans will no longer be allowed to download or update TikTok through major app stores after Sunday, but it’s not the end of the world (so far) for advertisers on the platform. While President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August that made “transactions” illegal with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, the Commerce Department–tasked with…
Twitter debuted its 2020 U.S. Election Hub this week, allowing users to read news articles, view Twitter Moments related to the election, learn about registering to vote and more. Our guide will show you how to find the U.S. Election Hub in the Twitter mobile application. Note: These screenshots were captured in the Twitter app…
Americans will be unable to download TikTok on mobile devices through American app marketplaces after Sunday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced today. However, the administration extended its earliest deadline for ByteDance to sell the popular social video app to Nov. 12. Ross, who also took action against Tencent-owned messaging app WeChat, said the decision was…
Twitter continues to take steps to fortify its platform with November’s U.S. presidential election in mind, and its latest security addition is aimed at high-profile, election-related accounts. The social network said the types of accounts impacted by the new security measures are: Executive Branch Congress Governors Secretaries of state Presidential campaigns Political parties Candidates with…
You may be familiar with the term MILF and its counterpart, DILF. But what does it mean to be a VILF? If you don’t know, it’s Voter I’d Like to … well, we’ll let you finish the rest. It’s a term OkCupid is trying to add to our collective vocabulary to show that voting can…
Samantha Bee wants you to vote–or face the bloody consequences. In a new campaign highlighting Full Frontal With Samantha Bee’s upcoming election coverage, the late-night show host spoofs classic scenes from horror films like Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Silence of the Lambs to scare her correspondents into participating in the November…
Former President Barack Obama is being featured in public-service announcements from Snapchat aimed at encouraging first-time and younger voters to register to vote via a new in-application tool that enables them to do so. Snap Inc. said it is a nonpartisan, multi-week public awareness effort that will also focus on helping younger voters learn about…
The 2020 U.S. presidential election is less than 50 days away, and Twitter is kicking its efforts into high gear with the rollout of its 2020 U.S. Election Hub. People in the U.S. will see the hub at the top of their Explore tab, and clicking on it will give them access to: Election-related news…
Ahead of National Voter Registration Day Sept. 22, Instagram began rolling out stickers that encourage users to vote. The Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing platform released these stickers as part of Facebook’s initiative to help 4 million Americans register to vote. There are six different sets of stickers that can be used on Instagram Stories, and…
Key Insights: This election marks a shift away from humor used during the 2016 election to a more serious push to register people to vote. Despite integrating politics into messaging, brands are most successful when they remain nonpartisan. Brands and agencies are turning their focus to increasing voter turnout for this election cycle by reminding…
The traditional model of leadership is one that doesn’t show weakness. But a new kind of leader is emerging for a new era: a leader that admits they are just as anxious and overwhelmed by the dire state of the world as anyone else. Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who gave the opening remarks at…
At a time when social media companies are debating how best to deal with political advertising, Reddit is testing something new. While the “front page of the internet” is still accepting political ads–unlike Twitter and other competitors–it is tinkering with how users interact with them, and how comments are moderated. But many users are unsatisfied…
Facebook is taking steps to address the shortage of poll workers for the upcoming presidential election, due largely to the pandemic. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Friday that users in the U.S. over the age of 18 will see messages atop their News Feeds this weekend, leading them to information on how…
Social media platforms received mixed reviews in terms of political and social activism, with most respondents to a new study from Pew Research Center saying they are an effective tool for raising awareness and creating sustained movements, but also calling them a distraction and believing that they lull people into thinking they are making a…
Twitter detailed updates to its civic integrity policy with the upcoming U.S. presidential election in mind. The social network said in a blog post that its existing policy covers the most directly harmful types of content: information or false claims on how to participate in civic processes; content with the potential to intimidate or suppress…
A record number of people are expected to vote by mail in this year’s presidential election, as many states have expanded access to the option due to health and safety concerns related to Covid-19. In light of this, a progressive grassroots organization called Vote From Home 2020 is sending mail-in ballot applications to a particular…
Spotify kicked off Play Your Part Wednesday, describing it as a nonpartisan initiative to provide resources for first-time voters prior to November’s U.S. presidential election. The streaming platform teamed up with artists, creators and influencers including Alaina Castillo, Chloe x Halle, Conan Gray and King Princess on the initiative. Spotify’s Voter’s Booth hub will provide…
Ahead of the U.S. elections this November, Pinterest is making some changes to boost civic engagement on its platform and tightening its policies on political ads. The company will not run ads against election-related search terms to “help ensure there’s a lower risk of ads appearing next to content that’s not inspiring (and therefore less…
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