Social Networking Sites

1. Social Networking Sites Rachel Hays

2. 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.”

3. 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.

4. Links • http://www.facebook.com/barackobama • http://www.facebook.com/johnmccain • http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin • http://www.facebook.com/joebiden • http://www.myspace.com/barackobama • http://www.myspace.com/johnmccain

5. 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.

6. “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 • http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/09/15/HNsocialnetworkpolitics_1.html