MySpace to Hold Presidential Primaries
Social networking site MySpace announced that it will hold Presidential primaries in January 2008. While this may not sound like a big deal at first, when one considers that MySpace's membership numbers could make it the 11th-largest country in the world, it's quite possible that these primaries will be as or more important than MTV's role in the 1996 election.The virtual primaries will be a major feature of MySpace's new Impact channel, self-dubbed as "a place to make a difference." The channel already offers a profile of each candidate, including their respective takes on issues and with ways for supporters to get involved politically.
Critics are skeptical of the online primaries, citing MySpace's lax account rules and identity checks (they don't check at all). There is concern that an ambitious campaign could simply create thousands of accounts to affect the primary's outcome. Meanwhile, supporters say that because of the huge number of MySpace users, even a few thousand rogue accounts from crafty campaigners wouldn't be statistically relevant among the millions of real accounts. They also believe that the online community will play a large role in the upcoming election, and MySpace is perhaps the best candidate for that given its popularity.
From TechCrunch
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