Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Launches Political Applications on Facebook(R) Platform

    SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Facebook f8 Event --
 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive today announced two political
 applications built on Facebook Platform, a development platform that
 enables companies to integrate with the Facebook website and gain access to
 millions of users. washingtonpost.com's "The Compass" and Slate's
 "Political Futures" applications are now available for Facebook users
 worldwide who are interested in becoming more engaged in present-day
 politics.
     washingtonpost.com's "The Compass" allows users to answer several
 questions that serve to determine where along the political spectrum their
 views fall. The results are then shared with the person's Facebook network
 and they, in turn, are invited to answer. As the user's network responds to
 the questions, s/he is able to see how their answers compare to create a
 map of political ideology.
     Slate's "Political Futures" application allows users to choose where
 they would place a bet if they had $500 to wager on the outcome of the 2008
 race for the White House. Leveraging Slate's "Political Futures" tool,
 which databases the big three political prediction markets, the application
 shows where the pretend wager falls in relation to real bets and maps out
 how other people in a user's network placed their "bets."
     When asked about Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive's decision to
 introduce applications on Facebook, Caroline Little, CEO and publisher,
 said: "These applications are an excellent opportunity for our websites to
 engage and interact with Facebook's 24 million users. We are excited to
 have a new way to share the political news we're known for with such an
 active audience."
     Facebook is a social utility that offers an efficient way for people to
 stay connected with their friends and the people around them. Facebook
 users communicate and share information through the social graph, the
 network of connections and relationships between people. With more than 24
 million active users, Facebook is the sixth-most trafficked website in the
 United States.
     "Facebook Platform creates an ecosystem for developers to build
 applications that deeply integrate into Facebook and use its social graph,"
 said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. "By enabling developers
 to make applications within Facebook, we're working together to create a
 better utility for millions of people."
     About washingtonpost.com
     washingtonpost.com is the award-winning news and information Web site
 of the Washington Post. It offers world-class journalism, a remarkable
 blend of traditional reporting, and innovative, multimedia content that
 provides an unmatched level of depth and texture to breaking stories as
 well as features, plus unique ways for reader to engage with the site, its
 capabilities and content.
     One of four online properties published by Washingtonpost.Newsweek
 Interactive, washingtonpost.com is the recipient of the first-ever Emmy for
 original video journalism online and has won numerous other awards,
 including an EPpy Award for Best Overall Newspaper-Affiliated Site, several
 Digital Edge Awards, a 2007 National Journalism Award for Web Reporting,
 National Press Photographers' Association Best of Photojournalism Award,
 and three consecutive Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence for
 Non-Broadcast Affiliated Website, among others. According to the 2007
 Project for Excellence in Journalism, washingtonpost.com is a "High
 Achiever" as an online news site, earning strong marks in terms of
 branding, content customization, multimedia and user participation.
     For more information, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com.
     About Slate
     Slate Magazine is an award-winning Web site that offers fresh angles on
 stories in the news and innovative entertainment coverage. Slate won the
 2006 and 2005 EPpy awards for Best Internet News Service (over 1 million
 monthly visitors) and the 2005 EPpy award for Best Internet Entertainment
 Service (over 1 million monthly visitors). Slate can be found on the Web at
 http://www.slate.com and is owned by The Washington Post Company. Slate
 attracts over five million unique visitors each month.
     About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
     Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) is the online publishing
 subsidiary of The Washington Post Company ( WPO). Its mission is to
 create truly interactive platforms that offer unmatched user experiences by
 developing editorial products with world-class reporting, multimedia
 features and award-winning content.
     WPNI's news and information sites, which include washingtonpost.com,
 Slate, Newsweek.com and Budget Travel Online, inform and encourage
 conversation and debate while reaching millions of unique and active users
 each month. WPNI properties' long lists of awards include the first-ever
 Emmy for original video journalism online awarded to washingtonpost.com, as
 well as National Journalism Awards, Pictures of the Year International
 Award, several Digital Edge Awards, multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards and
 White House New Photographer's Association Awards, among others.
     The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA.
     Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
 
 

SOURCE Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive