A new movement in politics is coming from an unexpected medium - the social networking Web site Facebook has emerged as a way for AU students to show their support for the 2008 presidential candidates.
James Lynch, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, started a Facebook group supporting John McCain. The group, "AU for McCain," is a basis for the future Web site "dcstudentsformccain.com," Lynch said in an e-mail. According to Lynch, Facebook rallied students interested in his Web site and McCain.
"It was the simplest way to create a group and have it accessible by the campus immediately," Lynch said in an e-mail.
Caitlin Miller, a freshman in SPA, said Facebook helped with her political cause. Miller, Taryn McKinnon, a freshman in the School of Communication and the College of Arts and Sciences, and Heidi Davis, a freshman in SOC, created the group "My Next President: Barack Obama."
Miller said they formed the Facebook group after seeing the Illinois senator speak at George Mason University in early February. The girls made T-shirts for the event, which received publicity from The Washington Post and The New York Times as part of their coverage on the rally's youth involvement. They decided to sell more Obama T-shirts as a fundraiser for him but were restricted from doing so on campus because the university cannot endorse a specific candidate. However, they could sell them through Facebook, Miller said.
Though the group is still waiting for Obama's approval to use his name on the shirts, Miller said "in no time at all" students have become interested in their fundraiser through Facebook. Since the group began two weeks ago, 53 people have joined.
Roland Lewis, a first-year graduate student in the International Training and Education program, summarized how the Internet is impacting politics.
"It's a place for people to gather without physically interacting," Lewis said.
According to Lewis, the Internet has given him "balanced" information on the candidates. He can discuss and hear different views, which he said contributes to his understanding.
Students in other colleges are using Facebook and the Internet for similar reasons.
In July 2006, Meredith Segal, a Bowdoin College junior, created "Barack Obama for President in 2008." After the group quickly soon reached 30,000 members, Segal began a grassroots campaign called Students for Barack Obama, according to the organization's Web site. SFBO organized the George Mason University rally in early February. Obama praised the group, the highlight of the organization so far, according to Segal.
Segal said the members of the group did not meet until the night before the rally.
"There is no way that a student movement for any candidate could sweep the country ... without the phenomenal power of online organizing," Segal said in an e-mail.
Farouk Aregbe, a North Dakota University graduate student, was invited to the rally, where he also was acknowledged by Obama. Aregbe created the Facebook group "One Million Strong for Barack Obama," which has almost 307,000 members as of yesterday.
Though it appears Obama is especially popular among students, Lynch said online campaigning has applied to both parties.
"No longer is your participation in a presidential campaign dependent on living near a campus office or being in an early primary state," Lynch said, directly quoting a statement by McCain on his official Web site.
However, communication via the Internet has to be turned into action, Aregbe said.
"It is not OK to sit in a chat room for hours and talk about candidates and politics and forget to register or vote," Aregbe said in an e-mail. "We must turn words into deeds that meet needs"
