back to article Hey kids! If you vote Facebook will give you EXTRA LIKES*

In an attempt to poke "da yoof" into voting, the Electoral Commission will run a registration campaign via Facebook tomorrow. Every person eligible to vote on Facebook in the UK will see a message in their newsfeed directing them to register online via the Gov.uk site. The body hopes it will prompt others to register, with …

  1. MrWibble

    Yes, the cause of young people not voting is because their friend on facebook aren't doing it. Or maybe there are no party / politicians that they can associate with (the vast majority being upper class twats)?

    1. ThomH

      I'm a little more optimistic than I've historically been — I wouldn't have believed in 2005 that 2010 would produce a coalition, and I wouldn't have believed in 2010 that in 2015 we'd be talking about four unambiguously major parties and five-party television debates. It's the sort of changing environment that could lead to a more diverse range of political voices. But we'll see.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Sure...

    ...can we just have someone that doesn't have an agenda based on fear and fairy tales?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well, I'm certainly not youthful, and I've voted in every single election since I was 18.

    However, after watching the 'inside the commons' programme on the telly last night, I get the feeling I've been wasting my time. It came over as a bit of a joke. Particularly the costumes, and marching around. The clerk with the cool facial hair and obsurd clothes, signing documents in norman french, and then 'silly walking' them from one place to another was particulary daft. They should save the 'tradition' for the state opening, and be like a proper workplace the rest of the time.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      > I've been wasting my time

      Unless you live in a very marginal constituency and vote tactically, you have been.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Often it's a nice walk to the polling station on a May evening though.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > Unless you live in a very marginal constituency and vote tactically, you have been

        You're so right there. Currently (almost) wishing I lived in South Thanet so that I could vote for Al Murray. Please, please, please South Thanet-anes, vote him in - his would be one of the funniest maiden speeches ever.

    2. adnim
      Stop

      I voted once when I was 18 purely for the novelty value.

      I realised it only encourages them so I haven't voted since. Voting for politicians only makes them feel wanted and valued. Do you really want to do that?

      What would make me real proud of the UK populace and give me hope for the future is no one voting at all at the next election.

    3. joed

      You're not alone. It was enough for me to cast my vote in 3 presidential elections in the best democracy money can buy to come to the same conclusion.

      1. adnim
        Thumb Up

        "the best democracy money can buy"

        Says it all

  4. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Our son is 18

    and like most of his peers has absolutely no intention of voting. Because there's no one to vote for.

    And really, despite it breaking my heart, his response to my urging is just this

    "Voting, huh. What's that ever done for you ?"

    and since he knows that I have never ever voted for a winning candidate in 20 years of voting, he really has a point. I voted against the Tories (well Tory candidate) in the 80s - we got Tories. I voted against nuLabour in 1997/2001/2005 - we got nuLab. I voted against Labour in 2010 and got a Labour MP.

    He has a point :(

    1. Lamont Cranston

      Re: Our son is 18

      And if all the first time voters think that way, your voting never will make any difference. Thank him from me, won't you, when the incumbent gets returned, and we face another 5 years of the current shower?

      1. adnim

        @Lamont... Re: Our son is 18

        "another 5 years of the current shower"

        Perhaps one can indicate a difference between the bought and the paid for?

        Top tier politics is a club and regardless of party, one agrees and tows the party line or one is never heard of. Different party voted for.. same fucking result.

        Need a naive icon

  5. RyokuMas
    Facepalm

    Hopefully...

    Fluff Busting Purity will work its magic on this...

  6. Elmer Phud

    How does it know?

    "Every person eligible to vote on Facebook in the UK will see a message in their newsfeed directing them to register online via the Gov.uk site."

    This should be interesting. I don't have an age or location set in FB, my email addy doesn't have .uk in it and, currently, the IP address that has been served up for me seems to locate to Ireland.

    1. Dr Paul Taylor

      Re: How does it know?

      I was wondering how far I would have to skim down the comments for someone to ask this important question. Do we understand that the (unedited) Electoral Roll is F***b**k's quid pro quo for handing over its users' information to GCHQ?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why don't they go the whole hog

    And just "Like" whatever candidate likes* you back...

    * or whatever other reason you are bothering to click on them... it's not like they give a fuck for you after you give them your vote.

    Disclaimer, I don't vote anymore, well I did, I voted with my feet.

  8. Truth4u

    like a crowd packed in the front without the midsection

    like the right to vote with no one to vote for in an election.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The politicians are just following Obama's lead.

    That "social networking" baloney worked so well for Obama now even your politicians want to follow suit. Half of the voters (Da Yoof) don't know how react unless someone else leads them down the primrose path. Oh and "Wastebook" is an American company too. Zuck must be gloating in his volcano, rubbing his hands in glee. (not to be confused with gee)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "...the real problem is trying to engage young people in the voting process"

    I would hazard a guess and say that it isn't because they don't think it is important. Rather, it is because all they can see is corrupt, uncaring, lying, 'in it for all they can get' politicians.

    If the politicians can clean up their acts and if the parties can clearly define their stances on the things that matter and stick to their principles, then maybe the young will start to give a shit.

    Relying on Facebook Likes is pretty insulting.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: "...the real problem is trying to engage young people in the voting process"

      What's the incentive for politicos to clean up their act? Not get elected because new voters will vote for someone else? Nope, the way is to turn people off from voting so that they continue to get elected by the "old school" voters.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Low Info Voters

    As if the UK wasn't already circling the drain with respect to political correctness, multi-culturalism, etc., you now want to encourage more of the low info crowd/sheep to vote? Good luck with that...

  12. Amorous Cowherder
    Mushroom

    I VOTE THEREFORE I MOAN!

    People say , "Don't vote? Don't moan!".

    That's complete and utter bollocks! If I vote for someone and they don't deliver then I have every bloody right to moan at whomever it was that failed to live up to their promises! If the person I voted for fails to get in, then I have a right to moan about the other canidate who did get in and still isn't doing what I want! Ha ha!

    1. monkeyfish

      Re: I VOTE THEREFORE I MOAN!

      Is that not the meaning of "Don't vote? Don't moan!"? I.E. if you do vote, then you have the right to moan, but if you don't then you don't.

      1. Pen-y-gors

        Don't moan - Take it a step further

        If you can't find someone you want to vote for, then do something about it. Stand yourself, or join a party and get involved in the candidate selection process. Do SOMETHING, not just sit on your arse all day playing video games, sending photos of your genitalia to yours friends on Snapchat, or pointless chatting to your mates on FB. That applies to people of all ages.

        Imagine the effect on candidate selection if 500 young people suddenly joined a UKIP branch!

        The Scottish Referendum showed that young people CAN be interested and take an active role in politics. Just chuck out the grey professional politicians with their rich chums, and get some passionate, caring people in Parliament instead.

        Trust me, it works. Having twice been a Green Party candidate at general elections it's very satisfying to go out and vote for someone you know is really the best candidate and exactly represents your views.

        1. JimmyPage Silver badge
          Mushroom

          Re: Don't moan - Take it a step further

          The problem is to stand in a general election required access to funds of £1,000 that you need to be prepared to wave goodbye to.

          So it's "democracy" for those that have.

          And of all the demographics, I suspect the one least likely to be able to spaff a grand will be 18-25 year olds.

  13. Nigel Whitfield.

    Behavioural targetting

    Facebook's got form for manipulating feeds to see how it affects people's moves; some reports on this explain how they have tried things like different placements, or even hiding the "I'm voting" button in the past, to see how it affects response.

    So, while I think anything that gets people to register is broadly a good thing, I think a clear an unambiguous statement that all people who are determined to be in the UK will receive the same notifications would be helpful.

    Given the information that the company gathers about its users, it can quite easily determine which political things they may have liked, or engaged with, including those elsewhere. It would be entirely possible, and staggeringly inappropriate, if reminders to register, or to vote, were selectively shown to people.

    You could imagine - I'm not suggesting they would do this, but it's technically possible - that a company in such a position might choose or be pressured to use this ability to show reminders more often to people who, say, have never clicked "Like" or shared stories about corporate tax issues, or various other policies.

    So, yes, getting people to register (and to vote), a good idea in principle. But with some reservations.

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Mark 85

      Re: bad idea

      My impression is that those are the ones who vote and go door to door pushing their candidate. Sort of like Jehovah's Witnesses but without the smugness.

    2. nijam Silver badge

      Re: bad idea

      Presumably you omitted "social media users" from your list because it is implicit. I hope so, anyway.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    a, the "youth"

    the same ones who will scream "oppression" if they are not allowed to spend over $100 a month on the newest trends which are the same crap from a couple years ago with different thread color, who get more upset about how their classmates see them and are more concerned with "fitting in" than finding anything resembling truth, and whose entire motivation for political action must come from a Presidentially sponsored woman who bathes in Froot Loops.

    Sci Fi used to warn us of a future where comic books were required to get anything across because people were too stupid or apathetic to care. Officially that day is here.

    The naive are easier to "use", and are more emotionally reactive without thinking. Perfect for the politicians of today.

    Idiocracy was a documentary ahead of its time.

  16. Andrew Jones 2

    The bit that always annoys me about all of this -

    why isn't there an easy (AND FREE) way to verify you are registered to vote.

  17. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Stop

    Given this some thought ..

    and am more intrigued by how on earth it is supposed to work.

    First off, where did the data set "facebook users" and "UK unregistered voters" come from ? Surely an unregistered voter is - by definition - unregistered.

    I wonder if this scheme wasn't actually proposed by Facebook as a free way to acquire lots of lovely data on their fading "target" demographic.

  18. stucs201

    How to easily get more people to vote:

    Put a "none of the above" option on the ballot paper. Many of those not voting will be not voting because they refuse to vote for someone they don't want.

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: None of the above

      Coupled with a requirement that a winning candidate polls >50% of the available vote.

      If no candidate meets that criteria, the constituency doesn't return an MP (saving money on the salary).

      People could still get elected. But they'd have to be worth it.

  19. Joe Harrison

    My kids would vote for Putin if they could

    Really! So would their mates from what I see. You might say the bad-ass image is just PR but they compare with Cameron/Milliband and it works for them.

  20. James 51

    A none of the above option would be nice. It's a pity single transferable vote didn't get through. It's a simple system, don't know why everyone on the TV said otherwise.

    1. Trainee grumpy old ****
      Boffin

      > It's a pity single transferable vote didn't get through.

      The reason STV didn't get through was both Labour and the Conservatives pitched it as something the Lib Dems wanted and therefore it must be opposed. The referendum happened at about the height of the "bash the Yellows" phase of this parliament. If the next parliament is even more hung than the current one, then I suspect both parties may soon regret not having STV.

      1. JimmyPage Silver badge
        Meh

        Irony ...

        It would be nice to imagine both Labour and Conservative high command roundly taking it in turns to kick each other .... it seems to me with the proliferation of Green/UKIP sentiments, STV might have actually helped the big two - particularly the conservatives. But, stuck with the system we have - and an electorate who knows exactly how it works, I suspect they will suffer. UKIP supporter know they have to vote UKIP to get UKIP, and their second choice doesn't count.

        Boo fucking hoo.

  21. Colin Miller

    SSL

    And will Facebook, the electoral commission and .gov.uk be using terrorist-enabling SSL?

  22. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Why?

    I kind of feel like, why? If someone doesn't care enough to vote anyway, why should they be kind of cajoled into voting? They probably haven't thought over who they are going to vote for anyway.

    Problem we have in the US, is the broken 2-party system; effectively, these parties are both centrist and act almost as a single party. Third party candidates are excluded from debates, polls ignore the existence of third parties (one poll call I got did not list a third party as a choice at all, and the other I got listed "other" then when I hit the number for "other" said "that is an invalid choice"), and the media uses the (invalid since they don't allow third-party choices) poll results to ignore the existence of third parties. The voter turnout here is low because voters are disenfranchised, I vote third party but a lot of voters just think "neither choice" is any good and don't vote at all.

  23. Anonymous C0ward

    I'm voting for a comedy party if there is one in my constituency.

    1. Sarah Balfour

      Labour/UKIP/Lib Dems - take yer pick!

  24. MrDamage Silver badge
    Trollface

    Teach the bastards a lesson

    Now would be the perfect time for a well organised farcebook campaign. Get as many kids as possible to vote for the Monster Raving Loony Party just for shits and giggles.

    Lets face it, they couldn't do any worse than the current mob.

  25. wx666z
    Linux

    NOTA options

    Here in the US.A., NOTA will never be an option. Our two dinosaur parties will make sure of that. So a couple of suggestions; I've voted for the SWP and the Greens and felt good about it. Of course, neither won, but neither "major" party got my vote. The only exceptions were two votes for Pres. Obama, and I'm pretty sure those ended being " the lesser of two evils". Lesson Learned.....

  26. Graham Marsden
    Facepalm

    This celebrity went to vote...

    ... you'll be amazed at what happened next...

  27. hekla

    Do it the Australian way

    The OZ way has a court enforceable fee [about $200] (not fine) for not registering to vote and another one one [about $50] for not voting. It gets the people out to vote and it pays for the election,

    1. Sarah Balfour

      Re: Do it the Australian way

      And how is that in any way democratic…? Not that different from IDS punishing the sick and disabled for not being able to sign on.

      What if they're elderly/sick/disabled…? And what's the difference between a 'fee' and a 'fine' anyway…?

  28. skeptical i
    Meh

    But do we WANT fecebookers to vote?

    Quantity over quality issue, we have a similar discussion at some community meetings.

    Q: "How do we get more people to attend?"

    A: "Free beer and lap dances. Now, if you want people to actually do something useful ...."

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