What if Facebook 'Likes' Were Votes?

Facebook, working in partnership with the journalism organization FiveThirtyEight, has launched for the first time an interactive map of the U.S. revealing the number of “Likes” each presidential candidate has collected on the social media platform.

If “Likes” were votes, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would beat Hillary Clinton nationwide by a nearly three-to-one margin and Republican front-runner Donald Trump would garner more support than Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio combined.

Of course, Facebook is not a polling organization — but the information is interesting nonetheless.

The map, which will be updated periodically, is created by FiveThirtyEight’s computational journalist Matthew Conlen with visual journalist Reuben Fischer-Baum. It allows users to choose specific candidates or states to see how the candidates stack up against one another.

“The data isn’t predictive of the election,” managing editor David Firestone said in a statement. “But it is a revealing look at the preferences of many people who use Facebook.”

Check it out:

FiveThirtyEight

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Contributions are a key part of the future of Vox

Readers rely on Vox for clear, nuanced coverage that not only illuminates the issues, but poses solutions, too. And we rely on help from our readers: Advertising and grants cover the majority of our costs, but we count on contributions to help us close the gaps in our budget. In fact, we’re looking to reach 95,000 individual contributions before the end of the year. Will you make the next contribution right now? Our average gift is just $20 — and it goes a long way in helping us keep our work free. Vox is here to help everyone understand what’s shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. Join that mission by making a contribution today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via