Local elected officials may soon have another way of getting in front of their hyper-connected and information-overloaded constituents, reports Kurt Wagner for Recode.net.
Mr. Wagner writes:
Facebook is testing a new feature that inserts posts from local politicians into users’ News Feeds, even if they don’t necessarily follow those politicians.
The article continues:
The new feature ... [includes] a label titled “This week in your government.” A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the feature is a test.
“We are testing a new civic engagement feature that shows people on Facebook the top posts from their elected officials,” this spokesperson said in a statement. “Our goal is to give people a simple way to learn about what’s happening at all levels of their government.”
This new tool – if implemented across the social network – won’t be quite as intrusive as it sounds, according to Mr. Wagner.
The feature will appear, at most, once per week, and only for users who follow at least one local, state or federal representative from their area. Facebook knows who your local reps are if you handed over your address to use the company’s voting plan feature – or its “Town Hall” feature, which helps people find and follow their elected officials.
Otherwise, you’ll just see posts from politicians at the state and federal levels.
Full story (and a screenshot) here.
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