Facebook has launched a new feature called ‘Perspectives’ which allows users to compare the policy stances of political parties ahead of the UK General Election.
The feature appears as a prompt beneath articles linked to the election and enables users to read about each party’s position on issues such as housing, the economy, and education. It is location-specific and will show relevant information to the country within the UK that the user is in.
Facebook says the feature will appear up to three times a day, displaying party stances in random order, and will be activated by the type of article rather than the the type of individual viewing it. It was first implemented ahead of the French presidential election earlier this year.
The feature resembles a soft form of voter advice application helping voters to cast more informed decisions. A number of these apps or websites have popped up in recent elections and often take the form of matrices, quizzes, or games. WebRoots Democracy recommended in our recent Democracy 2.0 report for the Electoral Commission to produce an official, independent, voter advice application for the UK.
WebRoots Democracy 