In addition to "get out the vote" efforts, a new study by Student PIRGs and CREDO Mobile suggests presidential campaigns should text out the vote, blog out the vote and YouTube out the vote to attract youth supporters.
Credo Mobile, a cell phone company that contributes to non-profit organizations, and the student activism organization Student PIRGs, sent text messages to 3,600 randomly selected young voters Feb. 12 - Super Tuesday - to remind them to vote. The group of voters that received text messages increased voter turnout by 4.6 percent - more than those who did not receive the messages, according to the study.
Technology enables young people to find out information and feel connected to one another, according to Leonard Steinhorn, a School of Communication professor.
"As long as young people feel connected to each other, and I think this new media culture makes them feel connected, that's part of the motivation that gets them to vote," he said.
The new media culture is more attractive to young voters because it is better than watching what other people tell them on TV, Steinhorn said.
"They're serious about the direction of our policies," he said.
Turnout among 18 to 29-year-olds increased during the past three elections. In 2004, the youth vote increased by 4.3 million from the 2000 total, according to the New Voters Project Web site. New Voters Project is the Student PIRGs' student mobilization program. More young voters in this age group voted in 2004 than voters over age 65.
Krista Jorstad, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said the text message reminders were so successful because young voters listen to their peers.
"Facebook applications and voteforchange.com are allowing students to engage in ways we wouldn't normally," she said.
The youth vote could be the most influential factor in this year's election, Jorstad said.
"I think this is the first time we're starting to see young voters come out," she said. Jorstad interns at the Democratic National Committee, where she researches new voter information.
"A lot of [new voters] are young people and a lot of [new voters] are Democrats," she said.
Young voters will be one-third of the electorate by 2015, according to the New Voters Project Web site.
Allan Lichtman, a history professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the youth vote is very important, though he is not sure if it will turn the election.
"If young people come out in average proportions, I think Obama might still win," he said. "But if they come out in larger than normal proportions, which I think they will, I think Obama will win big."
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's use of technology in the campaign is far ahead of Republican nominee John McCain's, he said. Obama's campaign Web site uses a lot of media and makes issues pages more accessible. Obama also surpassed online fundraising expectations, raising more Internet contributions than Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean did during his 2004 primary campaign, he said.
Obama raised $639 million as of Oct. 27. Dean ad raised more than $20 million by the end of his primary campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org.
McCain relies on robo-calling, while Obama reaches supporters via text messaging, Lichtman said.
Obama's success with the youth vote is more the result of his personal qualities than his use of technology, Lichtman said.
"Obama is the first candidate in a long time to really inspire young people and stoke their enthusiasm to get involved in politics," he said.
Students can visit txtoutthevote.com to send out voting reminders.
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