Race for the Social Networks

In Kentucky, we Democrats will pledge our allegiance to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on Tuesday.  Personally, I haven’t completely made up my mind yet, although I’m about 75% there.  In addition to painting my bathroom this weekend, figuring out what each Presidential candidate is really about is next on my list of things to do.
When deciding who to vote for before the last Presidential primary I relied on information compiled on local websites and news stories to get the facts.  That helped although it wasn’t really something I could relate to.
Today, there are so many social networking sites that people are obsessed with, it’s possible to connect to your favorite candidate’s site and be notified every time they do anything. Social networking is something that people can relate to have come to rely on as a source on information.
Social networking sites have allowed potential voters, especially young voters, to get to know the Barack and Hillary on a more personal level.  Both have profiles on the mainstream sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, however both are expanding beyond those sites to include LinkedIn, Eons and Twitter.
These are great ways to target younger or first-time votes who do not take part in traditional campaign activities, such as attending rallies or reading the newspaper.  Many younger, potential votes spend a significant amount of time on Facebook and MySpace anyway, so why not target them in their own environment?  In Kentucky, there are nearly 250,000 people on Facebook aged 18-65 and 44,400 people aged 13-17.  It’s a great, viral way to reach potential voters and even get the attention of people who haven’t reached the legal voting age yet.
Given how much of an influence emerging medias have had on society in the past two years, I really wouldn’t be surprised if we can text in our votes for the Race for 2010!