U.S. residents can register to vote through Snapchat

MANILA, Philippines – The US saw historically low voter turnout for young people in the 2014 midterm elections, which is why social media platforms are actively encouraging its users to register and vote.

Snapchat is the latest to do so with the addition of a new link found in the profile pages of users over 18 that directs them to an in-app registration portal, the company announced Tuesday, September 25.

Mashable reports users will receive a notification about the new feature as well as a video message from the Snapchat team reminding them to register.

Snapchat also launched a new voter registration filter which will have a curated Our Story about issues discussed by users and a link to the registration portal.

A repeat performance

It’s not the first time Snapchat has taken part in a voter registration initiative.

Last election cycle, it ran video ads with links to register in between stories, similar to what Instagram is currently doing. Facebook and Twitter, meanwhile, have included a prompt to register in users’ news feeds.

Snapchat is confident it can reach and engage a high number of new voters through the initiative. Snapchat reportedly has over 30 million 18-24 year old users, approximately 30% of its 100 million active US users.

These users, according to Snapchat, are highly engaged and would log in at an average of 20 times a day, send 20 snaps, and spend 30 minutes in the app.

This just means that there’s a high chance users will see Snapchat’s new voter registration features, though whether they choose to engage with it is another question. – Rappler.com