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Will Twitter Take Center Stage on Election Day?

By: Mistie Thompson | 10/31/2008

Microblogging service Twitter has been revving up its relevance as the 2008 presidential race heads toward the grand finale of election day, but its newest offering may make it the go-to spot for instantaneous reporting on Nov. 4.

Twitter Vote Report has been actively recruiting Twitter-philes for the past couple of weeks to participate in its "citizen-driven reporting on how America's voting during the '08 election ... creating a real-time record that can help us to help ourselves while the vote is taking place."

The opportunity to immediately report line length, wait times, registration issues or machine problems will be quite empowering to anyone voting on Nov. 4. I'm also betting the mainstream media, both campaigns and election boards (if they're smart) will be actively monitoring Twitter Vote Report to gauge voter turnout, pick up on trends and troubleshoot, especially in swing states, key cities and even vital precincts. If you're not a Twitter user, you can still participate by text message, phone or an iPhone application. If you are a Twitter-phile (I admit, I'm addicted - follow me at @MistieT or my colleagues @SusanIsk and @Marijean), jump in by following Twitter name votereport. To send in relevant Tweets, include #votereport in your messages, and enjoy taking citizen journalism to a whole new level on Nov. 4.

Posted in Digital Communications