After ten seasons, American Idol may finally be entering the twenty-first century.

Entertainment Weekly reports that viewers may soon be able to use their Facebook accounts to vote for their favorite American Idol contestants. An EW source told the magazine that Fox will announce the online voting system soon, with the system being ready to use as early as March 1.

EW reports that viewers would be to vote up to fifty times during each voting period. This is a significant departure from the text and telephone voting systems, which allow voters to vote as many times as they can during the voting window.

In the past, American Idol viewers have only been to vote by either phone or SMS texting. Texting, which was introduced to the voting process during the program's second season, has been perpetual source of controversy. In 2009, the surprise victory of contestant Kris Allen fueled speculation that groups of AT&T employees had altered voting's results by using phones capable of sending out ten text messages at a time to vote.

Voter fraud remains a constant issue for American Idol, and it is still unknown how Fox and Facebook plan to counter the inevitable attempts to defraud the voting system.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story call (646) 461 7294 or email r.bilton@ibtimes.com.

Facebook American Idol Facebook Facebook