The Mid-Terms Had Record Turnout

We’ve finally had time to digest the 2018 mid-terms. With the exception of some lost ballots in Florida, the races are decided. Even the California races have finally all been counted. Democrats took 40 seats in the house and turned Orange County a deep shade of blue. There are many stories coming out of this election and if you want to read my complete breakdown on the election you can read my analysis here. 

However, something we haven’t been talking about is the tremendous effect Snapchat had on the election. Snapchat registered over 400,000 people and created a polling information platform within their app. The best story of this election took place on Snapchat. I honestly might need to download the app again and start snapping. 49.3% of people voted in this past election. That’s the best turnout for an off-presidential election since 1914. America went to the polls and voted for democrats in droves and Snapchat may have been the way those numbers came in. 

People voting always makes me happy and seeing the bevy of civic participation made me feel much better about the course of this country. That being said, given the outsized influence Facebook played in 2016, I think we have to question the chance that Snapchat might have changed the results of the election. We have to ask questions like, “Is that fair?” and “Should we regulate that?” have to be asked. It’s nice to see people voting and it’s nice to see an app like Snapchat helping our democracy but clearly, when it comes to politics, social media needs some clear regulation and some legal rules to live by. Right now we’re dependent on their own standards and their general good will. But we’ve seen the dark side of what social media, misused can have on elections.