Internet Influence on Election 2008

Can I just say that as the last person in a fully developed country that doesn't have cable OR high definition television, the internet is like a treasure trove for me? This morning I went on YouTube and caught the highlights of last nights South Carolina debates, checked out some blogs to get people's reactions and joined my candidate's support group on Facebook.

I'm not alone in my affinity either. The web is almost a way of life for most people: a one stop shop for banking, bill pay, entertainment, interpersonal connection and of course, shopping. So then, doesn't it make perfect sense that it's a major platform for the 2008 Presidential Race?

The very thing that makes the internet a dangerous place is also what makes it great for political feedback: anyone can post their own content. With the advent of blog sites like WordPress, Blogger and Xanga anyone with a keyboard, monitor and internet connection can become a political pundit.

I read a lot of blogs. I guess because one, they're entertaining, and two, it''s refreshing to see someone who doesn't appear to have clear ulterior motives talk politics. It's also fairly easy to find a blogger or group of bloggers who share the same ideals as you do.

But nothing moves people to become vested in political affairs like a good old-fashioned disagreement. After I read something I find to be particularly ludicrous, I'll hit Google to do some research to make sure I have the facts straight and the battle begins.
Social networking sites are probably even more popular than blogs. More than 500 political candidates have Facebook pages. Who would have thought when Facebook launched almost four years ago the site would be co-sponsoring a presidential debate in New Hampshire, with ABC News, no less?

Hoping to do what P. Diddy's Vote or Die campaign and MTV's Rock the Vote couldn't, the social networking site has partnered with ABC to sponsor an elections channel that it hopes will encourage “active political engagement.

Features include debate groups, access to politician's Facebook pages, regularly updated ABC News feed, updates from reporters assigned to each candidate, Facebook/ABC News election polls and supporter counts. More than 1 million users have added the application and 300,000 have participated in at least one debate group.

Because of the Internet's strong influence, any news network looking to compete not only has an active website, but also offers frequently updated election coverage. For example, CNN has a special Election Center 2008 feature that offers polls, countdowns to each states primaries, campaign news and analysis and blogs.

For those who don’t have time to research individual candidate stances on issues that are important to them like individual rights, domestic issues, economic issues and defense issues, there are websites like Speak Out that offer a “vote match. The application helps pair users with the candidate whose platform is most in line with their beliefs. Each issue has links that gives concrete examples of what each point means. After the results are tabulated, users are also given links to presidential hopefuls biographical profile and stances for more research.

Then there's the bottomless resource that is YouTube. It seems like everything ever televised, and quite a few things that weren't, is archived to this site. Although it has recently seriously cracked down on the copyrighted material being posted, the good, the bad, the ugly and the glaring mistakes most candidates would like to forget are all here for your viewing pleasure. CNN and YouTube also hosted candidate debates this past summer. The site used user-uploaded videos to ask the candidates questions.

Blogs, social networking sites and the like are really just the tip of the Internet political machine iceberg. If you still can't quite see the influence of the internet on the 2008 Presidential Race, check out the candidates personal webpages, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube pages for more information. :)