Candidate profiles may boost college voting
Facebook isn’t just for students anymore.
By setting up Facebook profiles and even creating their own social networking Web sites, some prominent politicians have begun efforts to reach out to young voters and obtain an early advantage in the 2008 presidential election.
U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Barack Obama, D-Illinois, have put up their own Facebook pages in hopes of improving communication with potential young voters, and to help politically motivate the more than 17 million registered Facebook users.
THE CANDIDATES ON THE WEB
McCain’s Facebook page features photos of him at an Iowa town hall meeting, as well as his candidacy and press information, while Obama’s page has video feeds of the candidate and more than 3,800 messages from his supporters.
“It’s definitely a creative way to reach out to our demographic,” said James Kaczenski, a junior history major. “I think it’s important for the candidates to reach us, but I just don’t know how powerful a message can be sent on a Facebook page.”
The candidates have also created their own Web sites that specialize in social networking but also include platform information, fundraising guidelines and various levels of interactivity. For instance, users can create their own sites and promote their candidate through a personalized and complex social network.
“This is solid gold for organizing,” said Steve Fenberg, executive director of New Era Colorado, an advocacy organization focused on youth voting.
Obama’s Web site resembles Facebook’s interface, allowing users to create blogs and join groups or events in their area. The site also lets people invite others to their personal profile and find other users with similar interests related to the candidate.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, have all created their own Web sites as well, all of them employing different social networking themes to appeal to the young adult demographic.
“I think this might help get the youth to vote,” said Jordan Dill, a junior international affairs major. “A lot of young people feel disconnected from the political process, but it’s reassuring that voter turnout continues to improve.”
According to the 2005 U.S. Census report, 64 percent of U.S. citizens age 18 and over voted in the 2004 presidential election, up from 60 percent in 2000. But what may seem a dismal 46.7 percent of citizens aged 18 to 24 who voted in the 2004 election was actually an 11 percent increase from the 2000 elections.
With candidates using college networking Web sites for the first time in the upcoming 2008 election, those numbers have the capability to drastically increase.
“I see this move as a good thing,” said Kristin Grabarek, CU’s campus organizer for Colorado Public Interest Research Group, also known as CoPIRG. “I definitely think this matters.”
Still, some don’t think the candidate outreach will work. They cite voter apathy and political disenfranchisement as possible reasons for what they foresee as another poor voter turnout by young adults.
Another possible reason for the poor voter turnout is what is known as “the cycle of mutual neglect,” in which students tend not to vote because their representatives fail to address issues relevant to them, and politicians don’t address issues relevant to young adults because they tend not to vote.
“I just don’t see it making a difference at all,” said Danielle Duggan, a sophomore psychology major. “I don’t think it matters.”
But with the results still 20 months away, the students are simply as speculative as the numbers.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Dill said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Tim McAvoy at tim.mcavoy@thecampuspress.com.
