Twitter creates emoji to lure EU referendum voters
- Published
A new emoji to encourage people to register to vote, external in the EU referendum has been launched by Twitter and the Electoral Commission.
From Monday, anyone who uses the hashtag #EURefReady, external will find a neon tick emoji appear in their tweet.
People need to register to vote in the EU referendum by midnight on June 7.
On June 8, another emoji representing a neon ballot box will become available to Twitter users who use the hashtag #EURef., external
The launch follows a previously successful campaign to encourage young people to register to vote in the 2015 general election.
During that promotion, users in the UK saw a reminder in their timelines and on that day almost 30% of all applications came from 18-to-24-year-old voters.
Rob Owers, from Twitter UK, said: "We're excited to give people a new, fun way to have their voices heard ahead of 23 June.
"The #EURef is one of the biggest decisions UK voters have been asked to make in decades, so we're keen to ensure people make the most of the live, global conversation unfolding on Twitter to inform their decision."
Since the Electoral Commission launched its public awareness campaign on 15 May, more than 1.35 million people have applied online to register to vote across the UK.
The Commission says that under-25s and 25-to-34-year-olds are the groups making the most applications to register online.
However since the campaign launch on 15 May, the hashtag #EURefReady has only been used 1,200 times.
So far the most followed accounts using the hashtag have been Cambridge University, external and the leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett., external
The hashtag #EURef has been used more than 360,000 times in the same period.
The Electoral Commission said that they started really pushing the hashtag #EURefReady from Monday, but that they are working with a "range of different partner organisations" to ensure that the hashtag is used more widely up to the registration deadline.
They added that over the weekend, a reminder about the forthcoming deadline was released on to Facebook and the campaign plans to keep promoting videos on the site.