Facebook isn't just for college students to post pictures or get updates on friends anymore ' gubernatorial candidates Ted Strickland and Ken Blackwell have joined the Facebook craze.
Earlier this month, Facebook introduced an Election 2006 network to allow candidates to post profiles and interact with users ' a feature of which candidates for Ohio governor, Senate and House of Representatives have taken advantage. Facebook users also can display which candidates and issues they support.
The feature allows candidates to campaign to a younger audience, a task that is often difficult, said Isaac Baker, a Strickland spokesman.
We realized that online communities were playing big roles in terms of reaching young people
he said. We're trying to reach out in new or different ways.
Facebook is more popular among students than joining political groups on campus, said Katrina Collins, a spokeswoman for Blackwell.
A lot more students are on Facebook than show up to meetings she said.
Democratic and Republican students agree on at least one thing ' the new feature makes candidates more accessible.
I think that presenting their platforms in a way that is easier for the average college student to reach is a good idea said Anthony Vallance, a freshman who supports Strickland.
Ryan Strom, a sophomore who supports Blackwell, said, It exposes (Blackwell's) ideas to voting students who might not normally research information on candidates.
The candidates' profiles include much of the same information students' profiles have, with a political twist.
According to his profile, Strickland's interests include providing every child a fair start and focusing on Ohio's strengths to improve our economy. Under activities he lists meeting folks all around the great state of Ohio.
Blackwell's profile includes a promise to work to lower taxes and make Ohio a more competitive and business friendly state if he becomes governor.
Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state, shows his lighter side as well, listing The Temptations as his favorite music and church, boxing, hunting and his gun collection as some of his interests.
Poll numbers on Facebook indicate that 67.2 percent of students who have chosen to endorse one of Ohio's gubernatorial candidates on the social networking site support Strickland, while 28.3 percent support Blackwell.
A Sept. 21 poll by SurveyUSA showed that 56 percent of respondents said they would vote for Strickland if the election occurred at poll time, and 35 percent said they would vote for Blackwell.
Strickland, a democratic congressman from Lisbon, also has a MySpace profile, and both candidates have put campaign videos on YouTube.com.
These trends show that candidates have turned to the Internet as a tool to campaign toward technology-savvy college students, Collins said.
17
Archives
Annie Hartman
