We the people

34 responses so far ↓

• 1    Carolyn Foote // Sep 19, 2007 at 11:04 am

  Mrs. P–

  Welcome to blogging! I think this is a fascinating question, and look forward to hearing from your students!

• 2    Clay Nelson // Sep 23, 2007 at 3:38 pm

  I have noticed all the presidential politics on Facebook. Just as an interesting note the largest political group is actualy an anti Hillary Clinton group with over 400,000 members. I think that the social networking sites will have an impact on the 2008 election, however support for the candidates online will not neccesarily translate into the elections. Yes i think that it will encourage younger people to vote, but still not as many as older generations of citizens. A substantial number of peopl who join groups on facebook just automaticaly hit the “accept group invitation” button regardless of the content of the group. The size of the group wont neccesarily show the support of the groups; however many people in the group are in fact die hard supporters. Hillary Clinton is a leading candidate for the Democrats, however she has less facebook support and much more anti groups than any others. While in the actual poles she is shown to be at the top, online she is near the bottom, this shows that the presidency will be won at the ballot box, not online.

• 3    James Hook // Sep 24, 2007 at 4:51 pm

  The Internet subculture is very strange, and instead of being a “series of tubes” it is really a dumptruck of information that can be filtered. It allows friends to talk to each other after moving away, but in ways not expecting, it disallows those two from meeting each other in real life again. They leave notes for each other, making all sorts of plans, but never acting on them.

  In this same way, government can expect support from many Americans who are timid, or unable to vote. The Internet is sensationalist, as is American culture: Whatever is in style, maybe a song, clothing line, or device, permeates quickly through the culture, settling down once its drive into said culture is done.

  Not to say no one will, but few will vote as the sensationalism will prescribe, and fewer yet will go out into the community as a supporter of that candidate. I’m rather cynical of the potential that the groups offer, since many remain closet activists, voicing an opinion and not acting on it.

  On the side note, I’m a little interested to see what happens in the near future and what everyone else posts on the blog.

• 4    Samantha Specchio // Sep 24, 2007 at 11:03 pm

  So I just read the article about facebook and the connection with the 2008 election and I have to say I just joined the “One Million Strong For Barack” group on facebook. I think that facebook creates a strong tie between today’s youth and the upcoming election. Kids are being educated on the issues and candidates easier and faster with their computers and through friends and networking. I know that I support Barack Obama and it’s on my facebook. I think that with all the information online about each candidate and their profiles on facebook it’s much easier to become involved in the election. I think these and other social networking sites will have a positive impact on the election, captivating the youth of America who will be voting in the next election. I’m excited to see what happens between all the groups for the candidates. Overall I think there will be a better turnout at the election in 2008. Go Barack!

• 5    Grace // Sep 25, 2007 at 10:17 pm

  Hey kids,

  Here’s an article in the New York Times on morality and towards the end the author discusses fundamental moral differences between liberals and conservatives. Check it out, it’s really interesting.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/science/18mora.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

• 6    Jake Gino // Sep 25, 2007 at 11:05 pm

  I think that websites like facebook will have an effect on the coming elections. But I do not think it will be significant enough to make a difference. Many of the 300,000 or so members in Obama’s many groups will indeed vote for him, and a few will actively participate in his campaigns. But plenty of facebook groups are joined without regard to the message behind the group. Many just see it as a popular group and join, or simply because thier friends did it. And it is these people who will not participate in the campaigns and potentially not even vote. The “facebook effect” will help Obama get more votes than he would have otherwise, and possibly more campaign help, but I don’t believe that it will effect his campaign enough to make a substantial difference.

• 7    Brittany Johnson // Sep 26, 2007 at 9:06 am

  I think that the use of social networking sites will inspire younger voters to express their opinions in the 2008 election. It is possible that these groups will increase the political participation, although it is still apparent that some of the groups are entirely spiteful and serve no purpose in advancing their ideas. Our generation is majorly technology driven, so by getting the word out in the form of website chatting, the impact is entirely greater than by newspaper or magazine.
  The involvement of young voters will benefit greatly from the facebook incorporation, because it is so easy to create an interest group or plan a political event or meeting. Getting the word out to thousands of diverse people can be accomplished with the click of a button. As the article discussed, the groups on facebook can grow exponentially in the span of a month. With this huge impact across the nation, I think that an increased participation will be inevitable.

• 8    Carlee Couch // Sep 26, 2007 at 7:18 pm

  Facebook is a growing way for people to stay connected on the internet. It is a way to spread ideas as well as rally behind a cause. However, even though candidates are turning to online interaction websites such as Facebook, the actuality of votes to person in each group is doubtful. Many groups are joined because they are sent to people to be accepted. I personally am in many groups that I have never checked or interacted in. Although there is an increasing number of Facebook pages dedicated to political candidates, there is a great number more dedicated to high school football teams and ninjas. Even though I do not believe that Facebook will create votes for the candidates, I do think that it will not inhibit the candidate to put themselves out on the Internet, especially to a young audience like Facebook. Hopefully, with increasing participation, their names will be prevalent on the website and maybe inspire political thoughts.

• 9    Cynthia Meyer // Sep 26, 2007 at 10:12 pm

  The internet/facebook has allowed some lesser known candidates to gain more publicity. Ron Paul is a great example of this. I don’t believe that the extra publicity is quite enough to make a substantial different in the polls (at least in this election), but it gives each candidate more of a fair shot against money-raising machines such as Rudy or Hillary.
  This is a little off topic, but youtube has also added a great deal to this election. If I want to research a less popular candidate, such as Duncan Hunter, rather than watching the news or scanning for articles on google, I can just type in his name in the youtube searchbox and have virtually every important televised speech on-demand.

• 10    Anna Sillers // Sep 27, 2007 at 6:57 pm

  While I think they’re on the right track for getting political support from teenagers through “their communication,” facebook is one of the easiest ways of “supporting” a cause. and not only is it easy, all you have to do is click a button, but since we’re in our years where we’re so shaped by peer pressure, obviously the biggest groups are going to only get bigger. So for those who are using facebook or myspace or youtube or whatever to support their favorite candidate, it’s probably not the best way to correctly judge who will win the election that’s over a year from now from a group on facebook. However, the ones using these social networks to get to know their presidential candidates are the ones that will be voting and living under for the next four, maybe eight years. But can we really judge the outcome of a presidential election on a network that everyone can see each other’s supports, where as voting is completely anonymous?

• 11    Logan Smith // Sep 27, 2007 at 7:46 pm

  Facebook political groups such as the one for Obama, at least in my mind, will not greatly affect the upcoming election. The under-25, the age group that is on facebook, voter turnout is too small to say that a great increase will occur in four years. However, I see the groups greatly affecting the 2012 election. The way I look at it, the groups are a huge step up from the one-sided political information sources of the past. Instead of reading newspapers, or even searching the internet for candidate information, we can read others ideas, pose our own points, and then be criticized on them. This form of learning is much better and will create much smarter voters in future elections. But this will take time, as we still represent a small portion of the voting pool, and we need current members to grow older and spread their ideas throughout the adult workforce. The one problem will be discussion participation, but if Facebook continues on its current trend, membership will rise and the chances for learning will only increase.

• 12    Manasa Adeni // Sep 27, 2007 at 8:15 pm

  Facebook is a great way for our generation to spread ideas and support our causes. I’ve also noticed the increasing amounts of politcal activity that is apparant on facebook. Since we are all so connected through the internet and other social-networking sites and we get a lot of our information through these sources, I think it’s smart for political candidates to at least try to gain support through the internet. Support, as can be seen in the case of Obama, grows at an exceptionally rapid rate. Facebook groups such as these will cause some sort of impact, whether it’s simply more interest in political events, or an increase in voting. Either way, this will help our own futures because if we are not interested now, then we’ll have to deal with our past indifference in the future when it will really affect us. I think it’s great that we can use something as global and yet so personal as facebook to change society for the better.

• 13    Abigail Vaaler // Sep 27, 2007 at 8:28 pm

  Clearly there is a lot of information online about political candidates. However, I question whether facebook, youtube, etc. really cause an increase in the number of people voting or otherwise participating in the political process. It seems to me that people who participate in online political activities are often people who would vote anyways. (or still won’t vote, including people not old enough to vote) The internet does make it easier for people to learn about politics if they choose to. Political news junkies have lots of sites available to them, but the internet also makes politics easier to ignore. If politically inclined people were to protest (or show support) in the streets then other people would be made aware of the controversy. On the other hand, if people protest (or show support) by signing an online petition or joining a facebook group, others who are not politically inclined are less likely to find out about the issue.

• 14    Lauren DeDecker // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:50 pm

  I think the facebook groups are great. The entire first chapter of our book is dedicated to the fact that our generation is the least informed, interested, and politically active generation yet (despite all of our resources). Since we are so technology oriented, things like Facebook groups can really help spread some knowledge on politics. I think that it will definitely spur an increase in political activism among people our age, probably not alot, but still an increase. I think more young people will vote because of the online groups about the 08 election (even though it wont be enough to sway the election..

• 15    Jeffrey Springer // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:56 pm

  First off, I would like to state that I think it is great that the presidential candidates are being represented and advertised throughout the online blogging world. I think it is a beneficial opportunity for teenagers to learn more about the candidates and give them a stronger motive to actually get out and vote. It also stems political discussion among the kids of the nation that can lead to important political knowledge that many young people are lacking. On the other hand, I believe that this political popularity online can become a problem. Like carly said, many people will join the group solely because they were invited to, and not because they have any specific interest in the candidate or topic. Also I believe that most candidates are severly under represented online, It seems to me that the majority of groups on facebook and other sites are for Obama or Clinton. Presidential candidates such as Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and Fred Thompson can not benefit from this type of campaigning. This online popularity can also lead young people to vote on impulses, they may see that a certain candidate has a substantial number of supporters online and believe that is who they should vote for, instead of really learning the individual’s beliefs and policy ideas. And I believe that the true reason people should vote is because they agree with the ideals of the candidate and think that that person is the most capable to run the country, not just who seems coolest online. In conclusion there are both positives and negatives to online exposure for candidates, it does make people aware of some of the candidates running and gives them a chance to get in touch with politics while at the same time, it may lead people to vote for the wrong reasons.

• 16    Jenny Zhang // Sep 27, 2007 at 10:19 pm

  While I do agree that networking sites will increase the familiarity and publicity of the candidates, I do not think that 300,000 members of an online group will translate in real life. It is so easy for someone to click “join” to a group, but when it comes down to actually leaving the comforts of home and going through the process of registering to vote, how many teenagers (the majority of members in these groups and on networking sites) are going to act?
  However, I do think that the internet is a great way to interact with politics. As the our generation is heading more and more into the technological advance, we are more readily willing to accept information that is easily obtainable. The internet provides a sense of community, speed, and intimacy with the candidates that was previously unattainable.

• 17    Brandon Parsons // Sep 28, 2007 at 12:20 am

  Ever since I have been a member of facebook I have seen people join groups and send out group invitations. However I have rarely seen this groups be anything more than an online culture. First when alot of people get group requests they accept it without really looking at the cause and even fewer actually visit the group once they are a member. So just because a anti-hillary group has upwards of 400,000 members that really doesn’t reflect the majority feelings toward Hillary. It does raise awareness of the candidates and for those people who keep up with group blogs and feelings it does affect the candidate. In our generation technology obviously plays a large part in our everyday life but as far as facebook goes that doesn’t translate into actually votes, because some of these group members can’t even vote yet so they have no barring in poles. I also know that I at least have never been to a facebook event so I would have a hard time believing that a group could get all its members to physically back its cause. The fact of the matter is that these sorts of sites do influence politics but not to the extent that some people are making it out to. I believe they are useful in raising awareness but not in tangible results.

• 18    Coralee Trigger // Sep 28, 2007 at 11:50 am

  Politicians have certainly found a way for young people to notice them— but perhaps that is all, for now.

  “It took our campaign six months to get 139,000 people on an e-mail list,” Trippi said. “It took one Facebook group, what, barely a month to get 200,000? That’s astronomical.”

  Although I do think this statistic is incredible, it is not at all uncommon. Many other popular Facebook groups have had similar results. I doubt if a large percentage of group members would translate to actual votes in the 2008 Presidential election… However young people are definitely talking, and that is a start. The only way I can see Facebook being used as an effective campaigning tool (for young people) is if it could somehow be used for fundraising. I am not sure exactly how the different “Causes” applications are set up, but it might be something to consider. Do y’all think donating to campaigns via Facebook would work? Or have the potential to become popular?

• 19    Shannon Regan // Sep 28, 2007 at 4:21 pm

  I think that the internet will play a large role in the upcoming election, though I do not think that you can trust that every member in each facebook group, representing a presidential candidate, will vote in the 2008 election. I also don’t believe that if a cadidate is ahead online, that he will actually win this election. Though most of the young people are always on the internet, there is still a large number of senior citizens that will vote in this upcoming election, who don’t know how to us the internet, or know how to join facebook, and this group of people have played a large role in the past elections and I believe they will play a major role in the 2008 Presidential election as well. I do believe that because of the internet, more young people are able to hear about the presidential candidate more easier than they would have a decade ago, and therefore I think that more young people, unlike years before, will be voting in the upcoming elections

• 20    Lauren Schuler // Sep 28, 2007 at 6:22 pm

  I think facebook is a great example of a linkage institution. With technology today there will be more and more ways for canditates to get their policies heard and there name out there. But on the other hand a person joining an Obama group on facebook doesn’t guantee a vote for him. Many members of facebook are in highschool and unable to participate in elections. Also people are usually invited into facebook groups and it takes one simple click to respond yes or no. Where voting in real life takes registering, driving to the voting palce, waiting in line, etc. It will be to see the outcome of young voters in the next election and who they decide to support.

• 21    Shelton Smitherman // Sep 29, 2007 at 3:46 pm

  I really don’t think that using websites such as facebook to drum up support for presidential candidates is really going to affect the amount of votes that each candidate gets. Yes, there may be a lot of members that have joined groups on those websites, but whether those people will actually get up on election day and vote or even donate money to their persons campaign I think is highly unlikely. Also, it seems to me that groups online seem to more be leaning in favor of liberal candidates, like Obama and Clinton, whose policies don’t seem to be expressed really on that many of the online groups. Conservative runners, such as Guiliani, Romney and Thompson, aren’t really represented online, because their style of campaign and the people they appeal to involves more meeting voters face to face and interacting.

• 22    Michael Gramlich // Oct 1, 2007 at 1:03 am

  As technology advances and becomes more omnipresent in our culture, so will the means of campaigning. Facebook provides another medium for supporters, as well as for denouncing the candidates. This gives voters another way to express their opinions; creating a forum for young voters to become well aware of their candidates. I’m not implying that this is the best and ony way to gain knowledge on the policies your candiate stands for, but it definitely is beneficial.
  The number of members to a candidates internet blog doesn’t truly correlate to the number of votes they will in turn recieve, but it doesn’t hurt their chances. Most people who use Facebook will join a group just based upon the reasoning of being invited rather than what they stand for or if they honestly feel impassioned by the candidate’s policies. Having larger numbers of group members increases the chances of being elected, but it has shown non beneficial results in the past because it takes more than the click of a mouse to cast your vote….. Only time will tell if the 2008 presidential election will be immensely affected by the internet exposure.

• 23    Lindsey Fleming // Oct 2, 2007 at 8:15 pm

  The exponentially increasing numbers of kids who are joining campaign groups on Facebook doesn’t necessarily mean that these hundreds of thousands of people are going to vote for this particular candidate, or vote at all. With my experience a lot of people just join groups to either have as many groups as possible or just they just accept every group without looking. This doesn’t mean that using social sites such at Facebook or MySpace is a bad idea; it’s a good way to get your name and what you stand for out there. Also, because of the technologically advanced world that the youth is so engulfed in, the best way to reach this age group may be through these sites. I think that because we have grown up with computers and the generations after us will be just as involved, if not more, with the web, the future elections will potentially be greatly affected by the Internet.

• 24    Patrick Doherty // Oct 4, 2007 at 10:15 pm

  Joining a facebook group doesn’t necessarialy mean you are supporting a cause. Many people just join groups because they don’t cost any money and there are no cosequences for joining a politically incorrect group. Even though many people don’t support a political leader, at least this gives political campaigns a chance to display their canidates and their politcal opinions to the world in a quick and easy way. This may not be a way to gain a presidency, but atleast it allows our younger generation to acknowledge people running for president. Politics is adapting to the computer world just like politics adapted to the television world the generation before us.

• 25    Carly Lamb // Oct 4, 2007 at 11:35 pm

  I think that facebook groups on the Internet will play a role in the 2008 election, but not because of the numbers of people who are joining them. I agree with Lindsey that many people do join groups just to have as many as possible. However, even if this is the case, creating these facebook groups is a good way of publicizing a candidate’s views, and potentially gain more supporters. The youth of today is so greatly influenced by the media and technology that it may be the most effective way of winning us over, rather than through newspaper or magazine articles. As our world becomes more technologically savvy, I believe that more and more candidates will turn to the Internet as a means for gaining support.

• 26    Kat Rose // Oct 5, 2007 at 12:41 am

  Although support for “One Million Strong for Barack” and other politic groups on facebook is rapidly increasing, I honestly cannot believe the majority of the members will vote come November 2008. First of all, one must consider how many will be eligible to vote by the time of the presidential election and then how many that are old enough to vote will actually go through the process. As Todd Zeigler said, “the key point here is that the support for Obama on these social-networking sites is not being driven by the campaign itself. It is something spontaneous as opposed to something the campaign itself is orchestrating.” Just because a facebook user joins a group does not necessarily mean he or she is committed to vote for that candidate. However, I believe that the idea of political facebook groups is a good start to help people become more politically active, especially those who may not be very aware of current political events.

• 27    Shelton Smitherman // Oct 31, 2007 at 10:21 pm

  I pretty much agree with Giuliani on immigration. I do think that it is a big problem and it really does need to be at least restricted and if possible stopped. However, Giuliani’s method of carding every single illegal immigrant is almost preposterous because of the manpower and money that it would cost to even try such a thing. I do like that Giuliani believes in building fences to try and keep out illegal immigration.

• 28    Shelton Smitherman // Oct 31, 2007 at 10:22 pm

  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20263617/

• 29    Shelton Smitherman // Oct 31, 2007 at 10:26 pm

  go to the above website for an article on Rudy Giuliani on immigration

• 30    Shelton Smitherman // Oct 31, 2007 at 10:33 pm

  This is a pretty cool video with Ted Nugent about the 2nd amendment
  http://youtube.com/watch?v=T_QjEL0uUgo

• 31    Claire Lewis // Oct 31, 2007 at 10:53 pm

  Our candidate for the group project is Republican Rudy Giuliani. Although I do not agree with all of his policies, I understand where he is coming from on his issues with immigration. The main reason I do not like illegal immigration is because the minorities are increasingly catching up to the white majority. In addition to this, the illegal immigrants could be taking jobs away from citizens of the United States, therefore, increasing unemployment. However, I support immigrants legally coming into the United States to seek a better future.

• 32    Patrick Doherty // Oct 31, 2007 at 11:26 pm

  Giuliani’s strong stance on immagration will set him apart from many of the candidates in the 2008 election. I respect his stance on the issue of stoping immagration and requiring people to have some form of identifiaction, but the way his is going about it is obscured. My question to Giuliani is how long and how much money would his programs take? Giving a uniform identification card to every forgeing worker and getting all their information into a database may be a difficult task. I agree on the stance that Giuliani made that he would deport any illegal alien who committed a felony because it warns the illegals that if they aren’t in our country to make it better, then they shouldn’t be allowed. These programs take time and effort, but they may be the only ways to go about this task.

• 33    Logan Smith // Nov 1, 2007 at 2:16 am

  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=3105288&page=1

  I am curious to see what the response is from the rest of the classes. I personally think it is interesting to see the progression of the other candidates through the debates. At first, it seemed that Obama was acting like the leading candidate by lacking the necessary aggression. However, he listened to the media and turned it around with the help of Edwards in this most recent debate. I also found it interesting to watch Hillary’s response to the criticism. Obviously, she was prepared, but for once she seemed to be backed into a bit of a corner. Her strategy to change the topic to the Republicans was interesting, but did not answer the questions posed by the other candidates.

• 34    Landry Redding // Nov 1, 2007 at 7:52 pm

  The use of media items such as facebook, myspace and youtube has been a great tool for many candidates this election to get their messages out to the youth of America. As I was working on my candidate project I stumbled upon one such video by Hillary Clinton entitled “I need your advice.” Although I like her enthusiasm to get young voters involved, I don’t think a youtube video asking viewers about what her campaign song should be is the best way to go out about. It did, however, provide a humorous outlet for people to put songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. I would rather it had dealed with issues or showed her with her sleeves rolled up, standing on a pile of woodchips and cursing out the japanese. If you’d like to see the video it’s at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FV7XU-TLMU. It’s not too long and it’s probably worth at least one viewing.

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