Amy Keller | 10/12/2011

Jordan Raynor
Vice president, media and public affairs / Engage — Tampa

The next big wave in social media politics, says Jordan Raynor, will be using data from platforms like Facebook to inspire supporters to take more action on a candidate's behalf. Engage's Multiply allows campaigns to extract data from Facebook accounts so they can, for example, measure who their biggest supporters are. Having thousands of fans on Facebook isn't enough, Raynor says — he needs to know exactly which ones liked a particular post and their e-mail addresses so he can send targeted messages that inspire action. Multiply also has a component that allows supporters to earn points that can be exchanged for rewards such as bumper stickers or campaign T-shirts based on their level of support.

Andrea Torkelson
President / VoterBuzz — Bradenton

Political consultant Andrea Torkelson wanted to make it easier for people on the go to track their favorite political candidates. Campaign websites, she notes, don't always translate well to mobile phones, and not everybody is on Facebook. To bridge the gap, she's come up with a free app for iPhone and Android called VoterBuzz. The app, available later this month, allows users to follow and interact with campaigns. Campaigns or candidates pay VoterBuzz, which gives them a dedicated profile for posting photos and sharing information about events through a newsfeed. The app allows campaigns to ask supporters polling questions. Supporters, meanwhile, can purchase event tickets, RSVP to events and post a link from VoterBuzz on their Facebook or Twitter pages.

Jeff Tabor
Partner, director of business development / ShuffleCloud — St. Augustine

In 2010, Jeff Tabor and Scott Taylor convinced Marco Rubio he needed an iPhone app for his campaign for U.S. Senate. ShuffleCloud created "iStand with Marco," a free iPhone app that allowed Rubio's fans to follow his campaign through live news feeds, social network posts and photos and videos. Users could also donate to the campaign. Tabor predicts an increase in the use of mobile apps with embedded texting capabilities and possibly QR codes, the square "quick response" codes that could be included in TV ads. Viewers could scan the code off the TV screen and go directly to the candidate's Twitter feed or campaign website.

Other Political Apps

PolitiFact: The St. Petersburg Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact project now has a $1.99 app. It allows users to track the truthfulness of claims made by candidates, politicians and pundits. (Editor's note: Florida Trend is owned by Times Publishing Co., which also owns the St. Petersburg Times.)

FL Capitol Connection: After a stint as deputy chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, Vivian Myrtetus launched a free app that makes it easy to contact Florida's elected officials. It provides links to photos as well as official contact information, office locations and committee assignments. Myrtetus currently serves as chief of staff to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law