In the wake of the 2020 Elections, registering to vote has become important now more than ever. With major political policies on the line during an uncertain future of the country, many social media platforms have stepped up to promote registering to vote in various and creative ways to get the attention of all age groups, demographics, and political parties.
Facebook and Instagram have been asking their users directly, with “Are you registered to vote in [State Here]?” popping up right at the top or the middle of your timeline, literally. So of course, you can’t NOT register, right? It was to the point where I found these annoying, since it continuously popped up in my timeline, even though I was already registered. However, that’s the brilliant part of this strategy: annoying you is the point. And it’s brilliant! As a result, It is in-your-face social media approaches like these that have gotten Instagram and Facebook almost 3 million users across both platforms registered to vote.
Snapchat implemented not only a register to vote link, specially designed voter information mini cards to educate newly registered voters on what to expect, as well as another card on how mail-in ballots work.
And of course, Snapchat had to make these available by individualized Team Snapchat chats! Even though you may not have gotten a snapback from someone in several hours, at least Team Snapchat reminded you to register to vote! Over 450,000 people have been registered to vote by Snapchats efforts.
Twitter has utilized its search function to implement voter registration under their search tab “U.S. Elections”. However, their strongest push for voter registration was on National Voter Registration Day. With their #VoteReady campaign on September 22 and #NationalVoterRegistrationDay trending nationwide, Twitter flooded with the hashtags all over to encourage users to vote.
Through all the social media mentioned, influencers and celebrities chimed in especially on voter registration to encourage their followers to register and go out and vote.
Stay safe, and happy voting season!