Facebook (FB) Stock Woes: CNN Partnership Could Be Great For Business

Impact

The price of Facebook (FB) stock is down 0.2% from Tuesday, priced at $31.30. Although this number indicates that the stock is still down form its initial public offering of $38 on May 18, there is hope that fluctuating IPO will recover from this downward trend thanks to the company's exclusive partnership with CNN.

On Tuesday Facebook announced that it would begin working with the news giant to release a new interactive “I’m Voting” app specifically for the upcoming presidential election. Facebook will provide social data derived from its own algorithms that can track user's opinions on various issues related to the election. Facebook users will be able to endorse specific candidates or issues by using the app, as well as making a public commitment to voting. The information gathered from the app will then be used by CNN to determine trends of the election as well as gauge what issues matter most to the social-media generation. Voting-aged users will be able to participate in surveys on the app, making the data gathered even more valuable to CNN and anyone curious about the thoughts of the social networking site's 400 million+ users. For its part, CNN will be delivering exclusive interviews with candidates, as well as roundtable forums, which will allow users to interact with politicians on a new level.

This partnership could be a boon for both companies, but especially for Facebook, which has struggled to live up to the anticipated earnings since its NASDAQ debut in May. CNN lends the social media site some credibility regarding the information being shared about the election. Facebook will give CNN unprecedented access to the coveted millennial voting group, a demographic that tends to get the majority of its news from online outlets, instead of traditional sources.

The app will officially launch next month when Facebook and CNN will begin posting links to surveys on the Facebook U.S. Politics page during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. It is too early to tell how much of an effect this app will have on both companies, but it will undoubtedly have some influence on the future of election coverage and on the overall Facebook stock price.