Facebook Town Hall Gives You a Voice in US Politics

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Like it or not, Facebook has become a forum for politics. People share news and views on politics with their friends on Facebook. But many of these are shared only among friends.

A new service from Facebook called Town Hall helps users in the US connect directly with their government representatives at the federal, state and local levels. Town Hall lets you find, follow and contact government officials through Facebook, making it easier for you to learn what is happening in government and share your opinions with your representatives.

What Facebook Town Hall Does

Town Hall makes it easier for you to:

• know who your representatives are
• follow what they are doing
• contact them directly

Town Hall gives you a voice with your representatives, making it easier for you to see what they’re doing and to share your opinions with them directly.

Knowing Who Your Representatives Are

Facebook Town Hall uses your home address to find politicians who represent you at local, state and federal levels. Facebook promises not to share your address with others or use it for advertising purposes.

[note]You can use Town Hall without sharing your home address, but you will not see your local representatives. [/note]

Following and Connecting with Your Representatives

After you provide your address, Town Hall shows you a list of  your representatives at the local, state and federal levels. Next to each name are buttons to follow and connect with them.

You can follow their Facebook pages by clicking the Follow buttons. If you follow politicians, their posts will appear in your News Feed.

Town Hall also gives you a voice, by helping you contact your representatives directly by phone, email and Facebook messenger.

How to Use Facebook Town Hall

You can use Town Hall via Facebook’s website on your computer or the Facebook app on your phone.

Town Hall on the Facebook Website

To get started, look for Town Hall under the Explore tab on the left side of your home page. (You may have to click the More button to show Town Hall.)

Enter your address to find out who your representatives are.

You will see a list of your representatives. You can click the Follow All button to follow them all or click only the ones you want to follow.

Town Hall on the Facebook website lets you contact the representatives directly by email or Facebook Messenger.

[note]Also see Facebook Update Battles Fake News to learn how Facebook is dealing with fake news stories. [/note]

Town Hall on the Facebook App

You can also use Town Hall on your phone. Open the Facebook app and tap the three stacked lines in the bottom menu bar. You will see Town Hall as one of the choices.

Tap on it and enter your address to get a list of your representatives.

As with the Facebook website, the Facebook app lets you follow all of them at once, or choose which ones to follow individually.

You can also contact them directly by phone, email or Facebook Messenger using Town Hall on the app.

Your Thoughts

Have you signed up for Town Hall on Facebook? Did you like having easy access to your government representatives? If you don’t live in the US, do you hope Facebook brings Town Hall to your country?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

* Town Hall image (edited) courtesy of Matt via Flickr and Creative Commons

Voice of America Learning English

Learners of English who are interested in tech should check out my personal technology column at Voice of America Learning English. This week’s article is: Google Maps Tool Lets Users Share Their Location with Friends.