22/05/17 - Snapchat launches general election geofilter to get people to register to vote (75)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39947864/snapchat-launches-general-election-geofilter-to-get-people-to-register-to-vote

This article is about how Snapchat has launched a new filter to try to get more people to vote in June's general election. The social media firm, which has around 10 million subscribers in the UK, has teamed up with the Electoral Commission to remind users to register before the deadline, which is on Monday 22 May. In addition, it describes the concept of the actual app and describes it as weird to the older audience due to the concept of the app; All you're doing is taking a photo, making it seem a little bit creative and then sending it to your friends and once they've seen it, it will disappear from both phones. The Snapchat filter asks users to find their voice next to a graphic of a ballot box and a pink voting slip. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton released a Snapchat geofilter ahead of last November's US election, which allowed users to change into the candidate. The geofilter appears on all users' apps regardless of age, so teenagers are also reminded they can register before they turn 18. 

• Turnout among 18 to 24-year-olds in recent elections has tended to increase in the last decade, with less than half (43%) casting their vote in 2015, compared with 44% in 2010 and 37% in 2005.
• Almost one-third (30%) of adults under 34 not registered, compared with just four in 100 over-55s.
• More than half (51%) of Snapchat users are aged 18 to 34, according to digital market research firm Verto Analytics.

In my opinion, I believe that this with this specific filters, it will allow young people to feel more apart of the elections and therefore, it will attract more young people and make them feel more apart of the general election.Furthermore,the advertisement through social media can also play a huge factor and can be beneficial for Facebook as their revenue can show an increase. So, the fact that they are going to advertise the voting system on social media means that people who wouldn't usually pay attention to the news and want to vote, can potentially be persuaded by the advertisement and therefore may act upon it and start to vote.