PAGE 2, CAMPUS CARRIER news November 6, 2008

Online social networking changes face of politics

Kyler Post
Deputy News Editor
One didn’t need to subject themselves
to the barrage of television coverage of
Tuesday night’s election results to know
who had become the 44th president—
logging into Facebook would have been
sufficient.
Almost immediately after the Associ-
ated Press called California for Sen. Ba-
rack Obama, giving him the necessary 270
electoral votes to become commander-in-
chief, Facebook and other social network-
ing sites exploded with reactions, both
positive and negative.
Some statuses echoed campaign slo-
gans such as “change we need” and “yes
we can,” while others expressed their joy
as the finality of Obama’s election as the
first black president set in.
Sen. John McCain’s supporters also
made themselves known via social net-
working sites.
While some expressed support for the
president-elect as well as disappointment
in the outcome, others went as far as to
detail their plans to leave the country in
January.
What unfolded over the next few hours
was a trial in the court of public opinion
held exclusively over the Internet. Obama
and McCain supporters lashed out at one
another, defending their respective candi-
dates. According to Facebook, more than
2 million election-related messages were
posted on users’ walls on Tuesday.
Sophomore Ashley Hilliard, an Obama
supporter, said she was surprised to read
the opinions of so many of her friends and
classmates online.
“I think it [Facebook] allowed people to
show their true feelings about the results,”
she said. “Let’s just say I was shocked at
what some of my ‘friends’ had to say.”
Sophomore Mitch Hutts said he thought
the volatile posts after the results were an-
nounced were of little significance in the
grand scheme of the race.
“There’s no real harm they can do,”
he said. “But it’s nice to know people’s
opinions.”
But the “Facebook effect” was not ex-
clusive to the reactions after the election.
Social networking sites have been an ac-
tive part of the election cycle.
From the beginning, groups supporting
every candidate in the race were created.
According to Barry Schnitt, a Facebook
representative, McCain had a Facebook
following of 625,000, while Obama had
over 2.5 million friends out of more than
27 million registered users in the United
States.
His site is the most popular on Face-
book. Olympic gold medalist Michael
Phelps is second, with 1.6 million friends.
Facebook also launched several initia-
tives to encourage users to vote. The site
created an event reminding users to vote
more than a month ago. According to
Schnitt, in two weeks, more than 2.4 mil-
lion users had RSVP’d, saying they would
go to the polls on Election Day. Facebook
also teamed up with Rock the Vote to reg-
ister more than 50,000 voters.
In addition to their preemptive efforts
to get out the vote, Facebook simultane-
ously set nearly 1 million users’ statuses
as reminders to vote. These status updates
showed up on the “mini-feed” of all the
users’ respective friends, creating a ripple
effect across the site.
Facebook’s pre-election efforts led to
more than 5.4 million users heading to the
polls on Tuesday, Schnitt said. Facebook
even created an “I voted” button to keep
track of Facebook voter turnout.
In the days leading up to the election,
Facebook averaged more than 200,000
wall posts per day related to the election.
Election Day posts alone were an indicator
of the tide of the race.
Posts mentioning Sen. Obama peaked
at nearly 1.1 million, while Sen. McCain
was mentioned in only 280,000 posts.
Hutts said he found some of his friends’
political posts to be very informative on
each of the candidates.
“I thought my friends posted some
stuff that really helped me learn about the
candidates and where they stand on the is-
sues,” he said.
Hilliard said she is a proponent of Web-
based campaigning because it helps reach
a new generation of voters.
“I think things like Facebook are good
to a certain point because it is a great way
to reach out to young voters,” she said.
The online efforts of sites like Facebook,
combined with online campaigning from
both candidates, contributed to a youth
vote [ages 18 to 25] of 24 million—an in-
crease of 2 million from 2004.
Associate Professor of Government
and International Studies John Hickman
said he was impressed with the number of
young voters in this election.
“The fact that they voted alone is a great
thing for democracy,” he said. “It indicates
that they really endorse democratic self-
government.”
Though both candidates implemented
Web campaigning in the election, Com-
munications Department Chair Bob Frank
said Obama did a far more effective job of
utilizing Internet resources than his Re-
publican counterpart.
“Barack Obama used the Web in many
different ways, most effectively, fundrais-
ing,” he said. “I think he leveraged the
Web far better than McCain.”

Path
Continued from pg. 1
She actively participates in Berry’s Independent
Winterguard, which she said earns her 15,600 steps for
a 2-hour practice.
“Winterguard is a lot of stretching,” she said. “But,
it’s a good workout.”
One thing Cromer and Jackson commented on, spe-
cifically, was the healthy options made available in the
Dining Hall.
Jackson said he enjoyed being in control and know-
ing exactly what he was eating in Dining Hall. Cromer
said the foods marked with the “A New Year, A New
You” symbol have guided her eating choices as well.
Julie Bumpus, associate vice president of student
affairs, said the food component of The Path is very
important, and she hasn’t personally heard many com-
plaints about Aramark lately, especially, she said, since
an editorial from the Campus Carrier made the request
for healthier options in Valhalla— something Bumpus
said she’d heard from students and staff as well.
“They’ve really taken our suggestions to heart,”
Bumpus said.
She said that after fall break, Valhalla added a new
section of organic and health foods.
One aspect of The Path that is uncertain is how it
will affect usage of the Cage Center.
Director of the Cage Center Randall Goble said that
they’ve seen an increase in students using the Cage
during the peak hours of 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., but have not
seen an overall increase in number of students using
the facility since the inception of The Path.
Goble said that currently, around 40 percent of stu-
dents use the Cage, which falls short of the 75 percent
he and the administration are striving toward.
“From an academic standpoint, we actually have a
lot more classroom activity,” Goble said “And actually
there has been an increase in participation in aerobics
and yoga classes as well. What we’re challenged with is
creating new ways of getting people to come.”
Goble said that more education is needed to encour-
age students to utilize the Cage Center.
“Some people walk in and immediately see the big
weight area and get overwhelmed,” Goble said. “We
need more informing and educating that there’s other
things in the building besides weights.”
Bumpus said that she’s continuing to brainstorm
ways to get students more active, in addition to eating
healthy.
“We’re inventing this as we go along,” she said
of The Path and the new health initiative. “We had a
flurry of activity in late September, and now we need
to help students connect the dots between eating and
exercising.”
The man to talk to about exercise on campus, Fitness
Director Eric Morris, isn’t sure anyone knows his office
is in the back of the fitness center in the Cage.
Morris has a background in personal training and
previously was the owner of his own studio and gym
for 15 years. Now, his job is to create fitness opportuni-
ties for students, faculty and staff, which includes set-
ting up personal training regiments for students, at no
cost.
“Within this year, if we could see 50 percent of the
student population [in the Cage], I’d be pleased,” Mor-
ris said.
He said he likes that The Path emphasizes getting ac-
tive and rewards being active, not just losing weight.
Students outnumber faculty registered for the Path,
but the faculty and staff exceed students in average
steps logged in. It’s unclear what percentage of par-
ticipants signed up are actually logging in information,
that information is only available for Clower who as of
press time, could not be reached.

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