MySpace enters into 2008 presidential race with "Impact"

MySpace.com, a social-networking hub and one of the most popular sites on the Internet, on Monday has released the Impact Channel, a political community on the social network designed to empower politicians, non-profits, and civic organizations to connect with the global users of MySpace.

People who want to register to vote or learn the latest on the 2008 U.S. elections can visit Impact Channel (http://impact.myspace.com). The Channel contains a voter registration tool, links to all 10 presidential candidates’ (five Republicans and five Democrats) profiles, content from ‘GOOD Magazine’, Impact-related event and job listings, videos, and programs.

Owned by News Corp., the parent company of Fox 5 and MyFoxNY.com, MySpace is the largest Internet social network site in the world, drawing nearly 90 million users worldwide, with 64.4 million unique visitors from the U.S. in February,

“As the country’s most trafficked Website, MySpace will play a powerful role in the upcoming election. Our digital candidate banners will be the yard signs of the 21st Century and our political viral videos and blogs are the campaign ads of the future,” said Chris DeWolfe, chief executive officer of MySpace. “By empowering our users with easy-to-find information, offered in a way they can relate to it, Impact will ignite their involvement in the political process.”

After becoming the prominent tool in the promotion of music and video, the popular online teen hangout is now targeting the political world by adding pages for 2008 presidential candidates. The new Impact channel will enable its valuable users to learn about the presidential candidates, who have posted their official MySpace profiles, experience the political process online and offline and learn more about issues and organizations.

Candidates with pages on MySpace are Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton, 59, of New York, who has 2346 listed friends; Barack Obama, 45, of Illinois, who has 73,616 friends; Joe Biden, 64, of Delaware having 1028 friends as well as Dennis Kucinich, 60, of Ohio with 993 friends and John Edwards, 53, a former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential candidate with 14519 friends.

The Republicans who created their page on the site include Senator John McCain, 70, of Arizona having 1920 friends; former 62 years old New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose page was locked; and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 60, with 1712 friends.

The 71 years old libertarian Ron Paul also has a page with 925 listed friends.

“MySpace will be a powerful force in the next election,” said Julie Barko Germany, Deputy Director of the Institute for Politics Democracy & the Internet at George Washington University. “MySpace users will have direct access to candidates and be able to serve as digital storefronts for their campaigns, taking netroots politics to the next level. It's part of a trend that's revolutionizing the way politicians and the public interact.”

According to a MySpace spokeswoman, a few candidates were making last-minute changes to their profiles.

Besides the candidates’ profiles, the Impact Channel also features News, Jobs as well as events and featured videos. MySpace will also host a series of online political events through the 2008 presidential elections.