By Cassey Williams
“Obama is my homeboy,” states a piece of flair, an application of random sayings and pictures that can be posted on a user’s profile page on Facebook, a social networking website used by over 50 million people, according to Wikipedia.
The amount of young people using these types of sites, between the ages of 18 to 29, was up to 67 percent during the election. Of those users, 27 percent used these social networking sites to find out information on the election, according to the Pew Research Center.
The candidates took notice of this, creating their own profile pages. The Facebook page of U.S. Sen. John McCain, the former Republican presidential nominee, peaked around 600,000 friends, while President-elect Barack Obama’s page acquired more than three million, a clear indication of the youth following he gained during the campaign season.
So just how big an effect did the Internet have on this election?
“It made all the difference. I believe it made a big difference on the social websites such as Myspace and Facebook because people could voice their opinions freely to others that were not as informed about the election,” said Kristin Kirby, 20, a full-time student at Columbia College.
Alex Barcelo, 20, agreed. He said, “More and more people are on the Internet and there is a larger group of young voters who use the Internet.” Barcelo attends Midlands Technical College.
Erin Ringer, 20, believes that this Internet revolution had a lot to do with Barack Obama’s win. “He was able to attract many young voters via the Internet,” she said. Ringer is a student at the College of Charleston.
Even young Facebook users who did not vote for Barack Obama saw the impact that these social networking sites had on his election.
Kriby, a McCain supporter, said, “I think the Internet helped Obama win because all the young college students who agreed with his policies were able to unite online and voice their opinions for him.”
Barcelo, also a McCain supporter, agrees that Obama “won a huge majority of the youth vote,” and admits that he personally read election news “online rather than in print.”
Barcelo added that McCain’s loss was partly due to the fact that “he really didn’t apply himself to attracting young voters.”
Claire Hite, 20, a student at the College of Charleston said, “Young voters were more aware of what was going on in this election because of the Internet.”
Facebook users around the state are aware of the implications of this technological revolution. The instances of voters using the Internet to gather information on the candidates has doubled since the 2004 election, in all age groups, and it does not seem to be slowing down, according to Pew.
The youth vote turnout was a major factor in this election and in Obama’s victory. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, between 49 and 50 percent of eligible voters 18-20 showed up at the polls. His attempts to reach young voters through the internet proved to be a successful move.
Kirby summed it up best: “I read more online because it was easier to access.”
