In a bid to get Britain's young people down to the polling station, Channel 4 is hitting them where it hurts – the 8.7 million 16- to 34-year-olds that watch E4 will have to go without on election day. But will depriving Gen Y of their favourite channel be enough to get them to engage with politics?

A lack of interest in politics and a belief that your vote won't make a difference have resulted in worryingly low turnouts for elections. But social media may be the way to reach potential voters; a 17-word Facebook reminder resulted in a wave of online registrations to vote across the US.

Voting in America can be surprisingly difficult, with procedures varying from state to state; voter ID laws have been shifting, but government websites are often out of date. In an effort to get more people to the polls, Google is hoping to make voting information unquestionably clear.

The 2016 elections in the US and UK may be making headlines, but democracy's messy embrace now stretches far beyond politics, with social media offering people a say on almost anything. How can brands make the most of the consumer vote without ending up with egg on their faces?