There have been tons of articles over the last year written about how politicians are using Facebook, but it has yet to be determined whether the social networking site is an effective tool for political communication or just another way for college kids to find out about this weekend’s kegger. There are tons of questions that have yet to be answered, including:

• Do Facebook members really engage in politics or are they just putting the equivalent of cyberspace bumper stickers on their profiles?
• Will Barack Obama’s superstar status on the Internet translating into real grassroots support?
• Does Mitt Romney even know that he has a Facebook profile?

The paper, “Expanding the Public Sphere: The Impact of Facebook on Political Communication,” examines these questions and focuses on the ability of Facebook to facilitate political communication between members and extend the messages of political campaigns to a younger audience.

Below is an excerpt from the analysis. Read the full paper here.

Beneva Schulte, a spokesperson for Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd’s Democratic presidential campaign, said, “We’re not waiting for them to come to us; we’re finding them where they live. College students, unless they’re overtly political, don’t go to political Web sites and attend political rallies, so we’re meeting them on college campuses at Harvard and Howard — on Facebook and YouTube.” Facebook’s ability to integrate political communication into a broader social network is what separates it from a campaign web site or Howard Dean’s online organizing efforts. If a candidate’s Web site is like a campaign rally that college students can drive to, then a candidate’s Facebook page is like a campaign rally held right in the middle of campus. The campaigns are bringing their message to where college students live and an increasing portion of the general population is already interacting online.

Even if millions of young Americans are identifying themselves with political groups and taking their political discussions online, none of it matters if they do not take the next step and participate in the real world. Real world political participation can include making financial contributions, participating in political rallies, and, most importantly, voting. Historically, young Americans are the least likely to vote. In 2004, only 46.7 percent of eligible voters ages 18-24 cast ballots, compared with 63.8 percent of all eligible voters. [1] Whether increased political communication on Facebook will actually increase voting rates among younger demographics remains to be seen.

---

[1] Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, November 2004, http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p20-556.pdf.