The Facebook Tactic

As the election draws closer, the candidates are looking for more ways to reach voters. Perhaps one of the smartest tactic has been to create groups on Facebook, a social networking site that the majority of St. Albans students actively use. By creating these groups, the campaigns can announce their candidate’s entry in the race and can give students the instructions for donating money and registering to vote. Currently the Eagles campaign has two Facebook groups, one started by Ben Otoo and the other by Anirudha Balasubramanian. The former, entitled “Eagles ’08 Giving America Wings, has 13 members, and the latter, called “Edward Eagles for US President: Giving the Nation Wings” has 17 members. However, because of overlap, together the Eagles’ groups have 22 members. The group entitled, “John Campbell for U.S. President”, which was started by Gunnar Sidak, has a total of 23 members. The Rusher group, or “Mrs. Rusher For President Of the United States Of America”, was created by Henry Brooke and currently has 17 members.
While Facebook groups may be good forums for raising money, there is a slight problem with the groups’ goal of finding voter support. St. Albans seniors are the only students who can vote in the election on Tuesday, and therefore it is more important to look at how many seniors are in each group when attempting to predict election results. The Rusher group includes four seniors, one of whom is also in the Eagles group. Combined the two Eagles groups only have three seniors as members, while the Campbell group, despite having the highest membership, does not have any seniors.
At this point in the race, it is imperative that the campaigns turn their attention to eligible voters. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are in the groups are useful in raising funds, but the seniors, faculty, and staff are the people who decide the election.