Jun 7, 2017

Facebook will show lawmakers which articles are popular with their constituents

David McCabe

Noah Berger / AP

Lawmakers are soon going to have a new tool to take the pulse of their constituents: Facebook.

The social giant is rolling out a product that will let lawmakers (or, more likely, their staffers) see what articles are popular with people who live in their district. The company argues it will help lawmakers better respond to the issues their constituents are focused on.

Why it matters: Lawmakers are more likely to listen to their constituents than a random caller or letter-writer, so this fine-tunes the process of identifying those voices as more chatter moves onto Facebook. It's also the latest civic-engagement move from the company, which has grappled with its place in the political landscape.

But wait, there's more: The company is letting users get "badges" that show they are a constituent of a certain lawmaker. It will appear next to comments on that official's page. It also added a targeting option for lawmakers to more precisely reach people in their district with posts.

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