PressEthic

I recently read an article in the Washington Square News about candidates using the website facebook.com to campaign themselves.

I wrote an earlier blog about Senator Ted Kennedy's video on YouTube. I have never seen politicians use such innovative ways to reach out to a certain generation over the internet. I definitely think this could be a good move on their part, if it works.

I went to the facebook site to see for myself what kind of resources it offered. The site had information about what percentage of users are supporting which candidates for Senate, House of Representatives, and governor. Users can also search for specific candidate's profiles or specific issues. They can also sign up to be on that candidate's support list.

The WSN article quoted an NYU politics professor:

"We think that these social networks provide incentives for many to take the time to go vote,” she said. “College-age kids are, by definition, a transient population, and we think this is the primary reason for their low turnout. I don’t think Facebook will affect that.”

I definitely agree that it's hard for college students to keep up with the issues (maybe not for Graduate Journalism students). It requires a conscious effort to follow candidates and read up on the issues. However, facebook presents this information on their level. They bring it into their sphere, their communication network. I think this is a great step in the right direction to increasing voter turnout because so many college students use facebook and they can't ignore it.

However, there are a few kinks that the site has to work out first for this to be successful. Since it is a new endeavor, the overlay is not very inviting or easy to use. It took me a while to find any candidate information because it is not in the user's profile menu. I had to actually perform a search on a specific candidate to find any information. Also, once you arrive at a candidate's profile, there is not much to it:

Hillary Clinton, who is up for re-election to U.S. Senate, has posted an album of pictures from a recent visit to Critz Farms, a family-operated farm in upsate New York, reinforcing support for her campaign. The rest of her page is blank.

Eliot Spitzer had barely any information about himself, besides his political affiliation and a couple of photos. There is very little information about the candidates and the issues they represent. Based on this, there is simply not enough information for students to make a responsible decision as to which candidate to support.

In order for this venture to work, candidates have got to take the time to contribute to the facebook community and show college students that they care. Where will political campaigns pop up next?