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Civic Engagement Research at Facebook Samidh Chakrabarti Winter Mason TICTeC April 2016

Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

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Page 1: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Samidh ChakrabartiWinter Mason

TICTeCApril 2016

Page 2: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Our research team is multi-disciplinary

Samidh Chakrabarti

Winter Mason

Monica Lee

Funda Kivran-Swaine

Erhardt Graeff

Page 3: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Civic engagement is core to Facebook’s mission

“Give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”

Facebook company mission

“Give people a voice… in public affairs”Civic engagement mission

Page 4: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

How to make existing civic interactions better?

Volume of political comments in the US on Facebook

3% of all FB comments

Super Tuesday

Mega Tuesday April

Fools

Page 5: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

“Political Efficacy” is a North Star for “better”Political Efficacy definition/pəˈlidək(ə)l efəkəsē/noun

In political science, political efficacy is the citizens’ belief that they can understand and influence political affairs. It is commonly measured by surveys and is used as an indicator for the broader health of civil society.

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ANES Political Efficacy Index

1956 20121984Sources: Wikipedia (for definition). ANES (for chart).

Page 6: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

We think hard about the values driving our work

• Be Selfless: Serve people's interests first, not Facebook's interests

• Be Protective: Keep people safe (including from personal risk)

• Be Fair: Provide same opportunities to everyone

• Be Representative: Strive towards broadly inclusive products

• Be Constructive: Build empathy and defuse acrimonious polarization

• Be Conscious: Know our impact (both positive and negative)

Page 7: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Our research process is integral to all that we build

Understandpeople’s needs

Observecurrent state

Instrumentthe platform

Imagineproduct solutions

Builddeploy & iterate

Page 8: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Qualitative research is our starting point to uncover ethnographic insights on digital civic engagement

What we’ve done so far: • In-depth interviews with people in 3 U.S. cities• Informed consent from all participants

What we’ve found: • Skepticism that individual voices matter• Limited awareness of civic activities one could do

outside of national elections or an immediate crisis• Few know what their elected reps are doing in office• People sometimes worry that online political

conversations online can lead to personal risk

[UNDERSTAND]

“... I don't know that [my voice] was

individually heard, but I think as a whole it was.”

Page 9: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

What we’ve done so far: • In-depth interviews with people around the globe• Turkey, Kenya, Indonesia, Estonia, Iceland to date• Informed consent from all participants

What we’ve found: • Universal desire exists to connect with representatives,

especially to get a sense of their achievements while in office• Elections are the main vehicle to get voices heard (like US)• Perception of account security is an important driver for

people’s willing to engage in political discourse online

We’ve been extending this internationally, too[UNDERSTAND]

Page 10: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

We survey people on Facebook to understand motivations, attitudes, and real-world actions

[OBSERVE]

How many had contacted their elected reps (N=1000)

Why people contacted their elected reps

Page 11: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Analyzing interaction patterns on Facebook helps us understand engagement with politicians…

[OBSERVE]

Comments on Senator Pages:• Red lines = from constituents• Blue lines = from out of state

Comments aren’t just from constituents… there is also a vigorous national dialogue

Page 12: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Analyzing interaction patterns on Facebook helps us understand engagement with politicians…

[OBSERVE]

Discussion also spikes when an issue is part of the national conversation

Trending issues are central to engagement and drive a lot of interactions w/ reps

Page 13: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Analyzing interaction patterns on Facebook helps us understand engagement with politicians…

[OBSERVE]

Constituents and non-constituents often comment about different things on politicians’ Pages

Even online, constituency matters in political interactions

Page 14: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

… and gaps in political engagement on Facebook, which often reflect patterns in the offline world

[OBSERVE]

Political Commenting on FB Posts By Age Self-reported Contact With Reps By Age

Page 15: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Correlations between survey responses and Facebook activities can help spur product ideas…

[OBSERVE]

% of political Pages “liked” vs. self-reported political efficacy

Is this causal? Does a person’s political efficacy increase if they start connecting

with more politician Pages?

Page 16: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Self-declared political ideologyof US users on their Profiles

Perhaps most importantly, observational analyses help us stay true to core principles (like fairness)

[OBSERVE]

Self-reported political ideologyof US users based on surveys

Page 17: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

1. How interested are you in politics? – (Very interested to Not at all Interested)

2. Generally speaking, people like me don't have the power to influence government policy or actions – (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree)

3. I feel confident in my understanding of politics – (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree)

4. Political activities on Facebook, including political discussion, can affect government policy or actions. – (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree)

5. In which of the following ways do you feel comfortable talking about political issues with family or friends – Check all that apply: In person and on Facebook, Only in person,

None of the above

6. In which of the following ways do you feel comfortable talking about political issues publicly (i.e., with people you might not know)– Check all that apply: In person and on Facebook, Only in person,

None of the above

7. How often in the last 12 months have you tried to help solve a problem in your community ? – (At least once a week, once or twice a month, once or twice a

year, Never)

8. I feel connected to my local government– (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree)

9. Which of the following people have you contacted in the last 12 months about some important problem or to give them your views?– (Check all that apply: A local elected representative (e.g., mayor,

councilperson), A state-level elected representative (e.g., governor, state representative), A member of congress, the President, a political party official, a government office)

Before imagining new products, we instrument the platform to measure our top-level priorities

[INSTRUMENT]

Ten Questions From Our Tracking Survey On Political Efficacy

Page 18: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Early tracking survey results at least validate this technique as a reliable means of measurement…

[INSTRUMENT]

People who post about politics say they are interested in politics

Page 19: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

… and already point to novel product possibilities[INSTRUMENT]

People feel disconnected from

their elected officials, particularly

at the local level

Page 20: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

From all this research we imagine new products, such as helping people connect with local reps

[IMAGINE]

Old

Page 21: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

From all this research we imagine new products, such as helping people connect with local reps

[IMAGINE]

New

Page 22: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

From all this research we imagine new products, such as helping people connect with local reps

[BUILD/DEPLOY/ITERATE]

New

72% increase in conversions

Page 23: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Still unclear if we can have an impact on political efficacy, but this journey is just beginning!

[BUILD/DEPLOY/ITERATE]

Election day voting reminders… … do not significantly move political efficacy (when comparing states that have just voted to states that have yet to vote in the primary)

Page 24: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

You’re the most important ones we want to engage

• Research is central to everything we do in this space

• Not only for product goals… but also ensures responsibility

• We are in uncharted waters… and we need your help!

• Please give us feedback… we are available to you!

• Come to drinks reception tonight to kick off the conversation!

IN CONCLUSION…

Page 25: Civic Engagement Research at Facebook

Thank You! Questions?

Samidh [email protected]

@samidh

Winter [email protected]

@winteram