I don't know how many of you have Facebooks, but I'm sure it's quite of few of you. If you do have one you know about the different groups there are to join. There are a significant number of new groups aimed towards political values. There are some such as "Stop Global Warming," "Americans for Alternative Energy," "Support Stem Cell Research," etc.
I also thought it was interesting that there are campaign groups for candidates running for president in 2008. There are some joke groups, such as "Colbert for President," or "Stewart/Colbert '08," but there are also some serious ones. I joined "California Students for Barack Obama," and I've received e-mails, messages, and invitations to phone banks and get- togethers to help Barack Obama. There was even essay competition in which the winner got to read there essay at an Obama event. (There are also other groups such as "Romney 2008," "Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008," "America's Mayor, America's President. Giuliani 2008," etc.)
Although there are thousands of students joining groups like these, do they really have any affect on the election, or is all of this work for nothing? What do you think of political groups on Facebook?
It seems like even if the candidate doesn't win, it's a great way to become involved in politics, network, and organize. It's also interesting that Obama's campaign is so organized, being that the Democrats are often critisized for lack of organizational skills.
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7 comments:
I think the internet definitely can be good advertising and help with someone's campaign. The internet is a powerful tool to reach a lot of different people, especially younger people. Everything is growing on to the internet. For example, colleges that are trying to spread warning messages over the internet, like Virgina Tech, have recognized how easy it is to spread word. I think candidates should take advantage of the large number of internet users and advertise for themselves.
The internet is a fast developing media tool. So while those who join groups on things like facebook may not have the power to back up our views, I think that just being able to say that there are so many people who support this view that those in power will have to take some notice. The internet is a a really strong area that still has unexploited ways of being used for important information distribution.
I think Facebook is a good way for young people to get involved. Even though it's required by law for students to take government classes, a lot of people just don't care. So if politicians are making the effort (or their aides / big supporters) to get their names out on popular networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, it's only a step closer to winning the vote of the younger generation. Even if these students can't vote in the upcoming election, it sortof puts a "cool" spin on politics.. cause politics are just so cool and they will be voting in the near future.
i agree with everyones opinions but I'm not too sure about how serious people who join the groups are. The internet and networking sites may be a great way to advertise but they may or may not be a good way to share policies and platforms on certain issues which i think is something lacking in politics today. If the groups on myspace and facebook could start sharing more positions rather than contests and ways to meet the candidate, I think they would be more beneficial!
I'm on facebook as I write this! Facebook is an amazing website. It's like the bridge between the social networking of myspace and the more concrete event notification and messaging of email. Maybe that's why I'm on all the time. For all you kids like me who love it, you can go a step further, when it comes to government and facebook. There's an ABC sponsored "US Politics" application on the site. It lets you show which politicians you support, and gives news stories on those people. You can also follow ABC reporters as they blog about the candidates they are covering. Right now I'm following Sunlen Miller, who is covering Barack Obama's campaign. She blogs every day about what's going on in the campaign, and it's a cool thing to watch. Facebook also has a tracker on which candidates users are supporting. Barack Obama has 57% of the democratic vote, while Hillary Clinton only has 18%. It's a small cross-section, 291,000 democratic facebook users, but it's interesting to keep track of. It's definitely helped me to understand more about politics, especially about what presidential candidates are doing on a daily basis.
Colbert (one of the "joke groups" you mentioned) had a quasi-serious presidential campaign, in which he actually filed papers to run in the South Carolina primary (which were denied). He then officially dropped out, probably due to the writers' strike which began before any more episodes of his show were made. That group was largely made to support his campaign; many South Carolina voters sent in official petitions.
While some people on facebook may get really involved in politics, I don't think it's going to have too much of an effect. A lot of people just join things on facebook on a whim, just a click of a button, and then they don't do anything. This might mess up some polling too, although some people may be serious about planning to vote for the candidate. Angela, if you joined Obama's group I'll assume that you really do want him to be President, but I notice you didn't actually say you were doing any of the activites or accepting any invitations. No offense, but I'm just saying that I don't think politics on facebook is going to do much.
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