Web 2.0 meets Campaign 2008

WEB 2.0 MEETS CAMPAIGN 2008
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Linda Feldmann]
There's no doubt that interaction with voters ­ aided and amplified by still-unfolding Web innovations ­ is the name of the game in the 2008 presidential race. What's clear is that the advent of Web 2.0 ­ the wave of social-networking, file-sharing, and collaborative sites that have come into common use ­ has expanded the playing field for presidential candidates in ways that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Wherever there are people, there will be politics. That's why candidates have flocked to set up pages on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. In the 6-million-member Second Life cyberworld, presidential candidates have "offices," organized by volunteers who keep in touch with the official campaigns. MySpace will push the envelope in Web-based politics when it conducts its own presidential primary on Jan. 1 and 2, 2008 ­ just before the real primaries begin. With 64 million MySpace members being asked to vote, that's a contest the candidates cannot ignore.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0516/p01s02-uspo.html