A strong performance in the debate could lead not just to elevated support in the polls, but now, with Twitter’s help, and influx of campaign cash when many candidates are struggling to stand out.
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Candidates with a verified “Business” account on Square Cash can tweet a unique URL, or $Cashtag, sent by the digital payments company through email to request donations from supporters, according to the blog post. The Tweet will automatically include an image with a “contribute” button, making it easy for anyone to click to donate directly through the Tweet.
“Twitter is the center of the political universe during debates, and their partnership with Square will make the platform even more attractive to campaigns looking to spend time and resources there”, Vincent Harris, chief digital strategist for Mr. Paul’s presidential campaign, told the Wall Street Journal. Read Bernie Sanders or other candidates that have not built huge war chests through Super PACs or the Koch Brothers.
So in yet another sign of the service trying to broaden its mainstream appeal-while perhaps alienating its core users and early adopters-Twitter announced Tuesday that the microblogging platform’s users can tweet political donations. Square is a payment processor at which Jack Dorsey; Twitter’s current CEO is both Co-founder and CEO.
Despite a recent run of new products, Twitter in July said monthly user growth was the slowest since the company went public in 2013. One of the initiatives that’s hoped to bring some success is the new feature offered by Twitter.
Though the 2016 presidential election is still more than a year away, campaigns are in full swing and candidates are competing for their party’s top technologists. Politicians will be happy because they might be able to get some more money, while engaging that all-important millennial population.
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Because you didn’t already have enough ways to transfer money online, Twitter now offers the ability to make political donations through tweets. “We want people to have the opportunity to utilize this in the midst of key moments”. In 2012, the FEC ruled that candidates could begin accept donations via text message and this pairing is just taking the next logical step. Donors who already have a Square account can easily give money to their favorite candidate and then jump right back into the Twitter stream.
