Posted on 28 September 2012 by Adrian Mather – Comments (1)
The U.S. election is just over a month away, and from Obama's appearance on Reddit to Clint Eastwood's chair meme, we've seen the internet play a big role in shaping the race. This week, we've collected the most innovative political apps and sites that are helping to shake up this election:
Shazam! Ads that PAC a punch
SuperPACs are running more ads than ever in the U.S. Election, which makes it harder than ever to find out just who is behind the commercial you see on TV. Enter the SuperPAC App, it’s like Shazam for political ads - just record a snippet on your phone, and the app instantly tells you who paid for the ad. It’s a great example of technology enabling transparency, and could be a game-changer for how we view election ads in the future.
Tweet ThisA vault of news footage, now open for all
The Daily Show is famous for dragging up old footage of politicians to keep them honest, but not everyone has a team of researchers to comb through news footage to find the perfect quote. The TVNews database has changed all of that - now, you can just search for a term (like small business funding), and you’ll instantly find over three year’s worth of transcribed TV newscasts from US broadcasters about that topic. Next stop - YouTube fame!
Tweet ThisThe blogger that beat the pollsters
During the 2008 U.S. election, a funny thing happened -- an anonymous blogger posted his election predictions based not on polls, but using a technique developed for predicting baseball games. In the end, the blogger accurately called every single Senate race, as well as the Presidental race. Now, Nate Silver is a famous political statistician, and his analysis appears in the New York Times - guess who he says has a 83% chance of winning right now?
Tweet ThisCould Facebook improve voter turnout?
This recent study on Facebook reveals an interesting trend that could have some big implications for combatting low voter turnout. Social media users, it appears, are more likely to vote if they see that their friends have voted - for every voter, the “I voted” message inspired another four voters to cast a ballot on election day.
Tweet ThisCan I vote?
This American election year, a crop of fantastic sites have appeared to help voters decide who to vote for, highlight local issues, and track how politicans voted on issues. Our favourite is Can I Vote? - just give the site your state and details, and it will check your voter registration, direct you to your polling place, and even tell you what ID you should bring.
Tweet ThisHave we missed an app that is shaping this election? Hit us up on twitter or leave a comment and let us know. And have a great weekend!
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