Need guidance on voting, Facebook’s Be Counted can help

By David Alexander
Western Herald

Voting can be a hassle.

With so many things to consider about the voting process it is easy to see how many young voters become confused by it all. Things like voting absentee, where and how to register, and just general information about ones county can leave first-timers frustrated with the whole process.

A new Facebook application called Be Counted   guides voters through all these procedures. All students have to do is enter their zip code. The application was developed by a group of undergraduates at Stanford University, and utilizes Facebook’s web 2.0 setup to spread virally.

“[Be Counted] is a way to deal with all this red tape that students have to cut,” said Ellen Cerf, media director for “Be Counted” who is a sophomore majoring in international relations at Stanford.

While there are many web-based applications that offer voter registration “Be Counted” is unique because, according to its press release, it “provides a one-stop-shop for student voting needs,” and it allows students to use positive peer pressure to encourage friends to meet key deadlines.

Western Michigan University is one of roughly 535 target schools that the creators are hoping will begin to use the non-partisan application. According to Be Counted Co-director Micheal Terrell their goals are clearly defined.

“If we can get 20,000 [users] that would be good,” he said. “If we can get 40,000 that would be great. If we get 50,000 that’s awesome.”

Although the application launched just a little over two weeks ago the idea itself began in Nov. 2007 when the application’s creator, John Nantz, a Stanford senior majoring in economics, ran into a snag during the voting process in his home state of Missouri.

“The bottom line is that by the time I got my forms and realized that my form needed to be notarized, I could not get my ballot back in tim,” he said.

The application has uses other than guiding students through the voting process. Be Counted can be used to better estimate the number of people within Facebook’s demographic that are voting. That demographic is 18 to 24.

“It doesn’t resonate in the same way Facebook does,” Terrell said referring to why the choice was made to go with Facebook as opposed to Myspace or another web-hosted medium.

The Be Counted  team hopes to convert excitement about this year’s election into actual votes by coordinating with schools across the country. According to techcrunch.com 85 percent of college students use Facebook.

“There has been virtually no negative response,” Terrell said, “Competing with the flurry of attention-seeking devices is our biggest challenge. But that’s a byproduct of existing in a web-based medium.”

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=572

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 16 2008. Filed under Nation, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com