Nobody's Girl (a.k.a. The Presidentially Friendless)

Here are a few things you should know about me before you read this:
1) I am a registered voter, but haven't voted.
2) I am only a member of Facebook, which I visit daily.
3) I don't take much of a political stance on anything.

So when I get asked to join some Facebook, presidential support group of Obama's, Hillary's, Romney's, Brownback's, or even comedian Dane Cook's, who's not even in the running; I reject them. It's just not enough to get me to support them, plus it's gotten a bit out of hand.

It's no surprise, however, that social-networking sites, like MySpace and Facebook, and vlogs are having a major impact on the 2008 presidential election; but, I feel that most of what's developing on the Internet now is more for kicks than adding anything valuable to the actual campaign.

Although social networks and some vlogs are entertaining, I need more quality information, other than their popularity among my peers, to become somebody's girl.
Photo: Sarah Hart

Take a look at Obama Girl for starters. She isn't portraying any kind of political message. Just the mere fact that she will vote for Obama because he is attractive. (I guess that's one way to get my generation to vote.) Now, a media frenzy has developed around Obama Girl, and a barely political campaign debate is spewing between Obama Girl and her rivals, Romney Girl and Giuliani Girl. This entertainment driven and non-political vlog has taken away the media attention that could have been paid to the candidates and their issues.

Then there's Facebook and MySpace, which have a done I great job of getting the candidates "friends", but votes...who knows? It's easy to click on accept and declare your support for any of the presidential hopefuls, but it's quite another to actually go to polls and fill out a ballot. In 2004, 58 percent of 18- to 24-year-old citizens were registered and only 47 percent voted, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Voting and Registration pdf. So while making "Facebook friends could be pivotal in the presidential race", it could have no quatifiable impact as well.

It's hard to know what will come of presidential social-networking and vlogging until we see who wins their party's presidential nominations and who becomes the 44th president of the United States. If it's Barack Obama, then we'll know that new Internet technologies are key to reaching voters. Obama is a favorite among Facebook and MySpace members with supporters nearing 300,000 between the two and even has his own site. Yet, until at least the presidential conventions, I am remaining nobody's girl and presidentially friendless on Facebook.