Can I Vote? How Voting Can Make the Internet Better

Creating compelling blog posts can be a challenge. What do you write about that people actually care to read? Given all that is going on in the news nowadays with financial crisis, wars and elections it’s difficult to capture the attention of readers through all of the distractions.

I recently came across a short instructional video on how web content writers can use Google Trends to drive traffic to their websites. The concept is broken down into what is called the Trends Traffic Formula and is based on the premise that content can be created based on what people are searching for on the web. What a great concept!

So how can voting make the internet a better place, you ask? In an attempt to test the concept I used the Google Trends tool to find terms that people are currently searching for and found that "Can I Vote" ranked rather high. Considering U.S. presidential and Canadian Prime Minister candidates have been tapping into the social media world as part of their communication strategies, I figured this would be a good long tailed keyword to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.

In essence, such an exercise allows content editors to gain a better understanding of what people are actively searching for and are interested in finding. It is a form of high level market research that is non intrusive and is providing what people want without them even knowing that they've actually asked for it.

Web users are providing valuable answers into what it is that they want and this is always what marketers are looking for. In the end, web users are finding what they're looking for and marketers are giving them what they want (hopefully).

Stephen Harper Must Hate Facebook

The races are tightening up both in Canada and the United States with election dates nearing. Albeit, many still remain undecided on which camp they will lend their trust to for the next four years. Concerned voters are turning to the web to get information and more importantly to social media to join or even lead a political charge.

On the CBC news the other night they mentioned a Facebook vote-swapping group that has gained a lot of attention.

"The online group, titled 'Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada,' is trying to match Canadians who are willing to swap votes to keep the Conservatives from winning a majority in the Oct. 14 federal election."(source:Election officials poke around Facebook vote-swapping group)

The group has picked up steam (well over 10,000 members as of this post) and has gained plenty of media attention in the country including from Elections Canada who have determined that online vote swapping is not breaking any Canadian laws.
The group offers the following example of how it works:

"Let’s pretend I’m an NDP supporter in the riding of Winnipeg South. Seeing as the Tories only managed to beat the Liberals by less than 150 votes in the 2006 election, the Liberals almost surely have the best chance of winning. I use the “anti-Harper Vote Swap” facebook application to indicate that I’m an NDP supporter who is willing to vote for anyone but the Conservatives. Even if you don’t know the latest polling data in your riding, we can help."

"We will then match you up with another member of the group (in this example, a Liberal in a strong NDP riding who is willing to swap). Assuming we find you a match, you’ll receive a message a few days before the election letting you know that your vote can be swapped."

Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada consists of a website (www.voteswapcanada.ca) and a Facebook group with a corresponding Facebook widget allowing members to swap their votes with others. It's tough to say how the results will pan out although it would be interesting to see how social media including Anti-Harper swap and any other online social channels impacted the final results.

Whatever happens, let's hope it brings positive change!

**Please note that the views of the Anti-Harper swap group are not necessarily the same as my own...I still haven't decided which way to vote yet!