It’s a big night for Kossacks Under Thirty Five – we’re launching a Facebook page, and a Facebook group as well! If you’re on the Facebook, please add us as a friend, and join the group. This is a great way for us to help expand the progressive online infrastructure, bring more people into our community, and make new friends as well.
Tonight’s topic deals directly with our expanded online presence: we’re going to discuss the impact of social networking websites on young people, particularly in terms of political involvement. Note that this conversation isn’t just limited to Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, etc – why, the very website you’re reading right now is an important part of this equation as well.
Kossacks Under 35 is a weekly diary series designed to create a community within DailyKos that focuses on young people. Our overall goals are to work on increasing young voters' Democratic majority, and to raise awareness about issues that particularly affect young people, with a potential eye to policy solutions. Kossacks of all ages are welcome to participate (and do!), but the overall framework of each diary will likely be on or from a younger person's perspective. If you would like more information or want to contribute a diary, please email kath25 at kossacksunder35 (at) gmail dot com.
Kossacks Under 35 Facebook Page and Group!
Tonight marks the launch of our Facebook Page and Group. I blame my own semi-technophobia for the tardiness of this great resource, which will help bring our conversations to a much wider audience.
I personally do not have a Facebook page due to professional considerations, but it’s great to see so many of our friendly Kossacks are already on there. Right now, we’ve got a bunch of fun stuff on the page – Colbert videos, a Bush countdown clock, a map where you all can list all of the places you’ve been in the world, and, of course, the ability to leave messages and comments.
Plus, each diary will be publicized on the Facebook page, which should help bring all of our excellent writers more readership.
Here’s what you can do now:
Add photos to our group page. (Can other people do that too? I’m not so clear on how the Facebook works. If not, email them to our gmail address!)
Totally fun! Or, at the very least, mildly amusing and worth five minutes of your time.
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Social Networking Websites and Young Voters
Arguably, what sets our generation apart from all of those that have come before has been the rise of the Internet. Many of us have been using computers since elementary school, and been aware – if not actively involved – in the Internet since middle or high school. Especially for participants in this blog, the Internet has been a significant aspect of our daily lives, and I’m sure most of us shudder to think of a life without it.
The internet was not designed as a social networking tool, however. It was originally theorized as a way to keep defense information decentralized in case of attack. (Love that Cold War mentality!) Even after the World Wide Web finally got going and moved into becoming a mainstream communications interface, the Internet was viewed more as a strategic tool than a source of entertainment. Interestingly, several early theorists of the internet believed that its most promising aspect was increased communication between disparate activist groups – organizations that were previously separated by distance and lacking the funds to keep in close contact could now form wide networks and disseminate information more rapidly.
Interestingly, our generation has used the Internet – I would argue – primarily as a social tool, particularly as our pursuits of education and professional advancement have moved many of us far from our families, friends and communities.
However, the Internet has not lost its tremendous capability for activism, and it is in the biggest social networking sites – notably Facebook and MySpace – that we can see the Internet bridging this divide for young people, allowing us to move increasingly seemlessly between our personal and political activities.
During the primary season, we’ve read countless news stories about the importance of these social networking sites. Even young Caroline Giuliani’s support of Obama on her Facebook page was considered significant, and with good reason. Candidates can consider the number of people who want to "friend" them a form of support, and while it may not translate at the polls (due to age or apathy, I’m not sure) these websites are a way for people who might otherwise be uninterested in politics to get their feet wet.
Candidates can reach an unprecedented number of supporters through the internet. Hillary Clinton has a Facebook page. Barack Obama has 169490 friends on MySpace. Issue-oriented groups have found a home as well – just look at LGBT for John Edwards, or this group of Kucinich Supporters.
DailyKos fits in to this as well, even if the putative purpose of the site is to elect Democrats. DailyKos should be considered in some ways a social networking site, in that it has done a tremendous job of building community amongst liberals, Democrats and progressives, and allowed literally interaction between politicians and citizens in a way not imaginable before the rise of the internet.
But let’s think about people who are not on political blogs such as this. Many people are not obsessed with politics. Is this a way to make politics cool for a younger generation? A way to break away from the idea that politics is old and stodgy, a game for ancient men in suits?
At the same time, what about the Digital Divide? Research continues to show that access to the internet is not evenly distributed across income levels or ethnic groups, and all too often the benefits of the Internet – be they professional, social, whatever – are allocated disproportionately to those at the top of the ladder. For instance, if a young person can’t afford internet in the home, and can only get online at school or work, they’re probably not even reading this tonight.
So, what potential do you feel that the Internet has for young people in terms of political involvement? Information dissemination? Organization? Do videos ranging from George Allen using the word "macaca" to the vocalistic stylings of "Obama Girl" help bring more people to the table, or at least facilitate a new kind of dialogue about politics?
Do you have a page? Why or why not? What has it been useful for, and how could that be applied to politics?
Finally, how can these social networking websites be used effectively to not only bring more people into the political conversation, but get them to the polls as well?