Social Networking Sites Rachel Hays

Social Networking Sites Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace have revolutionized the way people, especially teens and college students, communicate. Social Networking sites work as a forum for people to express themselves. Politicians have their own Facebook and Myspace pages where people can be “supporters” or “friends.”

Register to Vote - In September, Facebook added a new application, “Be There, Be Counted” which allows people to register online to vote, depending on the state in which they live. - They also offered information about voter registration, poll locations and acquiring absentee ballots.

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Appeal to the Youth Demographic Both the Republican and Democratic candidates websites are calling upon the youth vote on their Facebook accounts. Obama has video’s encouraging underage voters to talk to their parents about voting for Obama McCain takes a different approach by trying to appear “hip” and hosts an MTV Cribs style tour of the campaign busses.

“The rise of MySpace, Facebook, and other social-networking sites are making the controlled, broadcast-style way of distributing political information obsolete. The people we're dealing with today are no longer 'consumers,' they're participants," ~ Henry Copeland