4 Ways Social Media Helped Us Share Our 2016 Election Feelings
Tim Reardon | Social Strategy
Tim Reardon | Social Strategy
If you’re one of the millions of people who voted last night, social media gave you the opportunity to share who you were voting for. Various social platforms gave us ways to show our friends and our networks whether we voted and who we supported in the 2016 Presidential Election. Below are ways Snapchat, Twitter, Periscope and Facebook gave us ways to share this election season.
If for some reason you forgot it was Election Day, Facebook made sure you were aware of it by placing “Election 2016” in your favorites bar. When you went to the dedicated Election Day page, it had everything you needed to know. The page included the presidential candidates, directions to your polling place, an FAQ page on what to bring when you vote, a status share where your friends can see that you voted and more.
Hashtags (on Twitter of course) took the spotlight. Remember internet sensation, Ken Bone? Well, IZOD (the company behind Bone’s red sweater) and Ken Bone got into the election action with the hashtag #MyVote16. When users tweeted their thoughts with #MyVote16, a special Ken Bone emoji appeared.
In addition to #MyVote2016, if users tweeted with #ElectionDay or #iVoted, a special emoji for those hashtags would appear. The three emojis would only appear if the given hashtag was used.
For daily users of Snapchat, presidential filters were expected. On Election Day, you could use various filters to show what party you were voting for. Hillary supporters got an added bonus of being able to transform into Hillary with the animated selfie lens.
Periscope, the live video stream service, gave users the option to wear Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton Selfie Masks. A little creepy? Yes, but it was a unique way to show your support or even make fun of the candidates.
