A new Facebook app that will let you opt in to having your photo and opinion blared over Times Square after you answer a political Poll seems weighted to those who wear their politics on their sleeves. The desire to broadcast one's opinion to the widest audience possible doesn't really seem to be a trait particular to left- or right-wing partisans. Some folks on both sides present their opinions strongly and loudly and that's exactly who Facebook is trying to attract to this new app.

"Facts don’t spread. Emotions do spread," a Facebook brand manager told developers, according to The New York Times Media Decoder. So to help spread them as far as possible (along with Facebook's logo), those who sign up for the 2012 Matters app will answer questions about nine issues in the campaign (including the economy, health care, immigration, and social security), and opt in to have their answers and profile pictures displayed on the Thomson Reuters and Nasdaq billboards in Times Square. It's like the online version of walking around with your message on a sandwich board.

Update (11:25 a.m. EST): The app and billboard space are a collaboration between Facebook, Reuters, and digital ad agency R/GA, the R/GA folks wrote to remind us.

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Adam Martin