Social voting gets bigger role in upcoming Formula E season
Formula E let fans into the race in a big way last year with FanBoost - a voting mechanism that allowed fans to give their favorite drivers an extra boost during races.
This year, starting at the Beijing ePrix on October 24, FanBoost will provide an extra 100kJ of energy to be used in a power window between 180kW and 200kW. Voting will open 12 days before the race, and unlike last year, will continue until six minutes into the race. Also unlike last year, fans can use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram hashtags to make their voices heard.
“FanBoost is a uniquely fan engaging element of our series and by being able to vote during the race the level of engagement will increase significantly, creating a real-time relationship between drivers, teams and fans," said Ali Russell, Director of Media and Strategic Partnerships at Formula E. "We are delighted to partner with Telescope, who have a proven track record in this field, and with their expertise we will evolve the FanBoost concept to become a standard bearer for fan interactivity in sport.”
Telescope is more than capable to handle this level of real-time social voting. The company helps shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "The Voice" track and tally hundreds of thousands of votes on a weekly basis.
As the FanBoost can only be used once, drivers will have to decide between using it for a short burst or over a longer period of time.