People over 16 using Facebook in Scotland will be able to add a new ‘life event’ to their Timeline from today, announcing that they have registered and plan to vote in the Scottish Referendum next month. The “Registered to Vote” feature will lead to thousands of status updates being sent from people to their friends, creating increased awareness of the voter registration process, according to Facebook. With every person on Facebook having an average of 120 friends, the company claims the ‘life event’ posts will be seen by millions of people in Scotland. The new feature is part of a wider campaign that Facebook is conducting with the Electoral Commission to raise awareness of the need to register to vote. Scottish Facebook users who visit the social network site over the next few weeks will also see newsfeed posts promoting an interactive Referendum guide, being launched by The Commission today.
The voting guide, which is also being sent to over 2.5 million households, contains factual information on how to register to vote and the different ways of casting a referendum vote.
The 12-page guide also contains information from the two lead campaign groups at the referendum, Better Together and Yes Scotland, along with a joint statement from the Scottish and UK Governments on what would happen after the referendum in the event of either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ result.
“Millions of people from all walks of life use Facebook in Scotland, and have turned to Facebook in recent weeks to share their views on the independence debate,” said Elizabeth Linder, Facebook’s politics and government specialist for Europe.
Full Article: Facebook adds ‘Registered to Vote’ option ahead of Scottish Referendum – Telegraph.