Today things move fast. What starts off as a subtle comment by a candidate or campaign staffer can become a key campaign moment in a matter of minutes. With the speed and accessibility of the internet at nearly everyone’s fingertips and the growth of Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and countless other social media platforms, information and news can spread around quickly.
So as a political junkie, how can you keep up with the fast-paced world of politics and news? Thankfully, you are all in luck because there are some great mobile apps that can help keep you “in the know” while also not wasting your time.
1) Politico
The Politico app packages all the news and gossip from across the county into one space. The easy to use app prides itself on providing the top news of the moment while also offering editorial and opinion pieces. The Politico app can also send you phone alerts when major news or developments happen while also providing video, photos and sometimes a behind the scenes peek at the political sausage making process.
2) PolitiFact
Sometimes it can be hard to sort through fact, fiction, theory and all the murky areas in between. The PolitiFact app works to help bring some fact checking to our country’s elected leaders. The PolitiFact app provides a “Truth-O-Meter” to candidate’s quotes in order to let you know how truthful they are actually being. The PolitiFact app also features a Truth Index that tracks the “ups and downs of all Truth-O-Meter rulings.” Make sure to also check out the “Flip-O-Meter” which, you guessed it, tracks every flip and flop that may roll out of a candidate’s mouth.
3) PollTracker
Polling plays a huge role in politics today. The ability to easily poll has created day by day and, sometimes, minute by minute snapshots of a campaign. As you will see in our training, though, a good campaign is more of marathon than a sprint. Nevertheless, if you love hearing about potential “surges” and “plummets,” the PollTracker app gives you all of the polling information to whatever race is closest to your heart.
4) iCitizen
Transforming the way that voters communicate on issues is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the iCitizen app. The iCitizen app allows for voters to follow issues, participate in polls and easily connect with the elected officials. The simple and easy interface allows users to be quickly informed and take action on issues they care about.
5) TheWeek.com
If you love a good political cartoon as much as I do, I highly recommend you download TheWeek.com app. TheWeek.com app “offers commentary on and analysis of the day’s breaking news and political debates, as well as arts, entertainment, business and technology coverage.” Along with this, they have one section solely dedicated to political cartoons. Never miss a bit of satire ever again!
How about you? Share your favorite apps in the comments.
