The USA Today Network has crafted a new voting initiative aimed at social media users, called Voting Because, that offers a meme generator, registration tools and educational content on hot-button issues.

The cornerstone of the Voting Because campaign includes a social media push to encourage Americans to share their reasons for voting with the hashtag #VotingBecause. The initiative is leveraging image-based sharing and elements of socially-generated culture native to social media, including many that are popular with young Americans who have little to no experience in voting or political participation.

?Though social media campaigns are relatively new in the world of politics, their eventual success is entirely based on the ability to prompt action based on the compelling nature of their message,? said Jon Bucci, co-founder and CEO of Veri, Montreal.

?Though there is much interest in the matter, it seems that the data until now is far from conclusive. Social media definitely plays a large role in the speed and the reach of campaigns, but it is extremely difficult to tangibly measure the effectiveness of the call-to-action.?

Multichannel approach
In a hotly contested race taking place in an increasingly polarized political climate, one of the hallmarks of the Voting Because campaign is that it strives to stay politically agnostic in its portrayal of social users? motivations. 

Many of the user-generated reasons included on images posted on the campaign?s mobile-optimized Web site, VotingBecause.com, range on all points of the political spectrum.

On the campaign?s Twitter, @USAToday2016, social media influencers such as John Wall and Kendall Jenner are seen holding the patent #votingbecause sign with politically neutral, innocuous motivations to vote written on them such as ?It?s my duty? and ?I?m an American.? 

They also provide the first examples of Voting Because?s meme generator, undoubtedly a feature included to attract millennial and first-time voters to the conversation.

Individuals can also use many of the other important features that Voting Because provides on its mobile-optimized site, not least of which includes quick access to Rock the Vote voter registration tools, informative educational content on hot-button issues sourced from USA Today Network?s diverse channels and access to the For The Record newsletter, aimed at explaining complex political issues in a clear and compelling fashion.

Bringing millennials to the conversation
Being a collective of news publications, election politics and voting are not uncharted territories for any of the constituent publications of the USA Today Network. Current endeavors within the vertical include USA Today?s OnPolitics blog and its Cup of Politics podcast, among others.

However, Voting Because marks the first time the network has so explicitly made a call-to-action to any group, much less young voters and millennials. 

It comprises a two-channel approach to media success: using their editorial expertise as the foundation for a campaign like Voting Because both increases brand awareness and bolsters brand sympathy for an enterprise that has everything to gain from increased conversation around the election.

While Voting Because may be an indication of the presence of media companies trying to positively influence the election cycle, brands have long been shrewd in regards to entry into the political conversation. 

Just this past month, convenience store 7-Eleven began capitalizing on the upcoming election by sponsoring satirical news outlet The Onion?s digital coverage and inviting customers to show support for their candidate by purchasing specially marked presidential cups in-store and sharing them on social media (see story).

StarKist Tuna has taken a somewhat similar approach, parodying the media commotion of election coverage by spearheading a new social campaign that seeks to find a presidential running mate for its mascot, Charlie the Tuna, while eschewing any notions of political separation for more lighthearted fare (see story).

?The Voting Because initiative seems properly targeted at what has often been nicknamed the Me Generation,? Mr. Bucci said.

?It depoliticizes voting by taking it away from narratives focused on parties and candidates and replacing them by what is important to each individual voter. In this respect, the idea that there is no incorrect motivation for voting is quite empowering, and really does circle back to the very strictest fundamentals of democracy.?