How social media enabled people to be part of the European elections

Social media have transformed voting from a democratic duty into an event. Where before it was an anonymous act in the privacy of a voting booth, these days it is something you share on Facebook or Twitter, sometimes accompanied with a "stemfie" of yourself voting in the polling station. It has allowed a lively debate online in the weeks leading up to the elections. Perhaps this has helped to stabilize turnout after years of decline, but it is certain it has enabled people to become involved.

Reaching out to first-time voters
Social media provide an excellent opportunity to communicate with young people, who often decline to vote. The Parliament created a special video about a young voter and his astonishing adventures on the way to the ballot box, which was watched more than 2.5 million times in a matter of weeks on YouTube and Facebook. The Parliament's official elections video also proved a hit, as it was watched more than 11 million times.

A million tweets and counting
Many people also took to social media to discuss the European elections. During elections week (19-25 May) the #EP2014 hashtag was used in more than a million tweets to discuss the elections.

The Parliament's web team developed a dashboard to make it possible for people to follow discussions on the elections in real time. During elections on 25 May night this was projected in the Parliament's chamber and was used online more than 15,000 times.

To promote the elections, Twitter displayed an elections banners calling on its users to vote, which was the first time they had ever done this. The message was visible to everyone accessing their Twitter account through a mobile device on elections day, apart from people living in the UK and the Netherlands.

One in five European voters reached via Facebook
Facebook also supported the elections by launching an 'I Voted' button, which was first used during the 2008 US elections. This allowed voters to show their commitment and motivate friends and family to join. The message was shared more than 2.7 million times and seen by one in potential five voters in the EU (nearly 90 million people).

The Parliament had developed two elections apps for Facebook. The application 'I am a Voter' allowed people to share virtual balloons and send them on a trip around the world. The longest balloon trip notched up more than 260,000 virtual kilometres, equivalent to travelling more than five times around the earth.

Another application - 'A Taste of Europe' - invited people to vote for their favourite European dish and organise a dinner on elections night. Bulgarian shopska salad won the honour of Europe's most popular dish with some 20,000 votes, ahead of Lithuanian beetroot soup.

Doodle

Even Google, the world's most popular search engine, played its part by turning its famous logo above the search window  into a blue ballot box covered with yellow stars.