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U.S. President Barack Obama (L) talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (R) during a town hall style meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Facebook is great for posting pictures of sunsets or sharing links with your friends, but could it swing an election?

A new study from the University of California in San Diego looked at how the social network affects voter turnout, and found that just a simple "go vote" message was able to inspire more than 300,000 people to head to the ballot box.

It's the latest in a growing body of research on how social networks are influencing politics.

Guest:

James Fowler, professor of medical genetics and political science at UC San Diego, and lead author on the study