Blogs 12 Long Island: Tapping the Vote

By Shari Einhorn

One of the biggest reasons why I love about my job...is that I usually learn something new every day!

Today, I learned about Twitter! It's a social networking site similar to Facebook and MySpace.

My story is part of our Island Vote 2008 series. Today's topic: how candidates are using cyberspace to get their message out to the younger crowd. Since teens, twenty and thirty somethings spend so much time trolling Internet and social networking sites...it seems like a no-brainer!

All of the major presidential candidates have either profiles or support sites you can find easily. Dozens of our local incumbents and their challengers also have profiles on Facebook.

I interviewed a poli sci professor from C.W. Post who says he can't really see a down side to being in cyberspace. It allows a candidate to get to voters...or soon to be voters...at an early age. And in his words--"If you get people involved when they're younger, they're more likely to sustain their involvement as they mature."

Students on campus admitted to spending A LOT OF TIME on MySpace and Facebook, but many of them said they were socializing not researching politics. A few actually said they prefer to get their political news directly from the candidates websites or from tv news and newspapers.

Either way, students seemed excited about the election -- and about casting their votes!

Shari