During American Idol, iOS Peel users were able to push buttons to "cheer" or "boo" contestants and judges while seeing how their own sentiment panned out as well as results for the entire group of Peel users watching the show. Now Samsung Galaxy Tab users who have the pre-installed Peel app will provide a deeper set of analytics for the three presidential and one vice-presidential debates this month.
Over the course of the debates, users will tap "cheer" or "boo" buttons for each candidate to register how they feel during specific parts. See the screenshot above for an example of how that will look.
"You'll be able to see what's resonating with the community and see their sentiment played back in real-time and in aggregate, so you'll essentially be able to see who's leading the debate," Peel’s vice president of marketing Scott Ellis told Mashable.
But that's not all.
Because the app already has all its users' zip codes to provide them with TV schedules and suggestions, it will be able to break down response and sentiment by geographic location. At the end of the show users can also opt-in to provide demographic info on age, ethnicity, income and gender. So Peel will be able to provide analytics after each debate of, for example, how Asian-American women of a certain age and income felt about the conversation.
"Think of almost as a massive pivot table in Excel," Ellis says of the potential to splice sentiment.
Because "cheer" or "boo" clicks will also be time-stamped, Peel can go back to see which debate moments affected users most. And if users are especially moved by a particular point, a button within the app will take them to 2012 presidential campaign websites where they can make donations.