Social Politicking Network

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If there ever was any doubt about the power of new media, this Presidential election is dispelling a whole lot of them.

• Barack Obama sent out the news of his Vice Presidential candidate to registered Democrats through SMS much before he made the public announcement.
• Ahead of the November elections, Facebook created entries for all US congressional candidates. Campaign staff could personalise the profiles and Facebook members could register their support and add comments.
• Both Obama and McCain have the most sophisticated and up-to-date sites. One look at barackobama.com and you'll know what I mean. Obama doesn't write the blog himself but it's current with the latest updates and events. There are some excellent photographs of Obama and Biden on the campaign trail and videos of events of the night before.
• Quite the same with McCain's website which is also written in third person but has updates, views and perspectives and refers to YouTube for other angles to this election.

It's the age of the new media and it has led to the democratisation of news. Everyone can make news, everyone can write news.

The new media, the social media, that's providing instant feedback to the candidate.

The likes of YouTube, MySpace have created a new source of gathering public opinion about the Presidential election and a new way for you to share your thoughts.

Second Life has become an active arena for campaigners where they hold virtual music festivals supporting Obama and also help direct traffic to online voter registration sites. Politicians in America have a unique opportunity to engage with people directly through a highly interactive and cost effective channel. And they are lapping it up.

And demographics across the board are noticing this focus on the net. Jen Duda, an official at the Mercyhurst College, in Erie in Pennsylvania, says almost half of the college's population of voting age showed some interest in registering their vote after they noticed candidates on Facebook.

Democrats though outpoll Republicans almost five to one on Facebook, and almost three to one on MySpace and YouTube. A recent study conducted by Pew Research Centre contrasted the two candidates' online presence, noting that as of September 9, Obama had 510,799 My Space 'friends' (compared to McCain's 87,652) and more than 1.7 million Facebook pals (compared to 309,591 for McCain).

John Denver, a 22-year-old volunteer at McCain's HQs in Phoenix in Arizona, attributes this mismatch to the age factor and says he joined the work force to dispel this doubt that McCain is simply too old for Facebook.

The fact is blogs and independent news sites are booming. Out of the total 75 million blogs, some observers say nearly 72,000 are political blogs. In an increasingly interconnected world, technology is allowing and encouraging politics to spread beyond geographic borders

So while door-to-door active campaigning is very much on and air waves are being carpet-bombed with ads and commercial documentaries, greater attention to the Internet is helping.

In particular, Obama has engaged with potential supporters on a large scale. He has amassed a network of mostly young volunteers, bloggers and small donors that have enabled him to raise the most money ever of any presidential candidate, some of them contributing just $5 to $10 each.

This Presidential cycle for the YouTube era has proved that no candidate in future elections can dismiss the role of online presence in elections. But many are asking is the Web improving public debate, the political process or the campaigns.

It certainly is inventing a new kind of politics

(Anubha Bhonsle is on the Jefferson Fellowship. She is observing the US Presidential elections from Arizona, Pennsylvania and Ohio)