Results

The election season is reaching a fever pitch, and this election year the candidates are reaching out to voters in unique ways. All of the top contenders have some type of online presence, though some have been more successful in their social networking efforts than others. They have created Facebook pages and groups, MySpace profiles, YouTube videos, and encouraged their supporters to organize through Meetup.com. So far, Republican Ron Paul has focused on Web 2.0 tools more than any other candidate, and he tops the list of candidate Google searches for 2007. He has certainly started a trend, but the question remains: will hits and Facebook friends translate into votes?

The candidates have used different means of reaching voters who hang out online, and with varying degrees of success. Democrat Barack Obama’s Facebook group, “One Million Strong for Barack” was created by a supporter, and infamously joined by Rudy Giuliani’s daughter. Other candidates have copied the verbiage, including TV personality Stephen Colbert, though to date the group is home to just over 400,000 Facebook members. The group is a grassroots effort run by supporters, and is not affiliated with Obama’s campaign. This is in contrast to the other candidates Facebook groups, which are calculated PR moves. Perhaps this puts Obama ahead of the curve when election time arrives.

Another frequently used site is YouTube, where the candidates have jointly posted over 2500 videos since last January (452 of those belong to Republican Mitt Romney, never one to be camera-shy). Perhaps the most entertaining of these comes from Mike Huckabee, who is clearly trying to capitalize on the recent endorsement from Chuck Norris, a.k.a. Walker, Texas Ranger. Huckabee asserts (with straight face) that “there’s no chin under Chuck Norris’ beard, only another fist.” It’s clear this ad is meant to appeal to the YouTube demographic, as I’m sure my grandmother wouldn’t laugh at this joke.

Perhaps the most influential of the Web 2.0 sites used by presidential candidates is Meetup.com, a networking site which allows users to connect with others in their communities with similar interests. Their website states: “We want to see the world’s people self-organize. We believe that people can change their world, or the world by organizing themselves into groups - Meetups - powerful enough to make a difference.” Ron Paul has had tremendous success with Meetup, and his approximately 82,000 supporters have organized 21,000 offline events to fund raise and generate support for him. Whether he wins or loses the nomination, his success using Meetup and other social networking sites will likely be emulated in future election campaigns.

Web analytics company Compete has created a tool to track the candidates and their successes and failures using online networking. Candidate Facetime breaks up the candidates by party and shows what percentage of their “hits” are on their official websites, how their hits stack up against their competitors, and how many total hours people have spent learning about them through their Web 2.0 efforts. November’s data shows Ron Paul as a clear Republican frontrunner when it comes to generating online buzz, while Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards are neck-and-neck for the Democrats.

As Mike Huckabee points out on his Facebook group, “I believe that the internet will play a huge role in the 2008 campaign and sites such as this are wonderful tools for people to come together and show their support for the candidate of their choice.” Right he is, especially when it comes to gathering support among younger, more wired voters. Or are they “voters” when all they’ve done to express their political beliefs is to post a candidate’s name to an online profile? Are these groups just a way for lazy voters to establish a political identity, or will they transform into actual support for these candidates? We’re about to find out.

Friday, December 21st, 2007 Both comments and pings are currently closed.

By Haley January Eckels