The Snapchat Dancing Hot Dog is back because democracy is a snack

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Democracy is at the breaking point. It’s always been a series of tiny fires that have coalesced into one giant blaze. A chemical tire fire burning our lungs and begging to be extinguished by fascism. There is a saving grace for Democracy, in that we can vote, stem the bloodletting and start working toward a progressive future that makes sense, rather than unabated nationalism and nonsense.

So naturally, we’ve turned to social media apps to encourage correct behavior, specifically voting. If you haven’t seen Twitter, Facebook, or Snapchat question your voter status, then you haven’t been on social media in the past three or four months. With active voter suppression from the highest office in the land, to armed nutbags showing up at the polls, our best bet is to vote early and have a voting plan. If only there was a magic augmented reality hot dog to encourage such a thing.

Where once the Snapchat hot dog was a being of pure existential questionability, it now once again crosses into our plane of reality, to spin signs about voting and happily distract us from the hellscape we as a society have created. Snapchat has previously rolled out a bunch of voting tools, helping millions of users get the vote out. This past Saturday, on Vote Early Day, the hot dog made an appearance, then disappeared back to the realm from whence it came.

On November 3rd, decked out in Uncle Sam cosplay, the Snapchat hot dog shall return with a “find your polling location” sign

When users click the sign, they’ll be directed to Snap’s Before You Vote tool in order to find polling locations and learn about everything on their ballots, from candidates to amendments. We’re not sure if it translates the obfuscation of political language usually found on ballots to layman text, but it at least tells people where to go. This is extremely helpful in states where the GOP has shut down polling places, because racism.

There’s always been some sort of initiative to get young people to vote, and it hasn’t always worked. I’m not sure of the effectiveness of MTV’s Rock The Vote, but back then we weren’t staring down the barrel of unimpeded fascism. It was just Reaganomics (which led to the tire fire we have now) staring us in the face, which we didn’t really understand the impact of at the time. I think things are a bit more clear now, and the mistakes of 2016 on the side of voters and media (the latter only behaving worse in its quest for clicks) are present in our minds. Sometimes we just need an AR hot dog for that final push.

More people have already early voted than total ballots cast in 2016. They didn’t need a freaking hot dog to do it either. Doubtful they waited until Facebook reminded them they should probably vote. The youth vote is also seeing record numbers. They saw the mistakes of their parents, came of age, and are rightfully determined to save us from ourselves. And next week, they’ll be rewarded in the Snapchat app with an AR hot dog. That makes it all worth it.

Don’t wait for a damn hot dog to dance you to the polls. Go vote.

What do you think? Have you voted yet? Plan on it? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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