MySpace Politicians

MySpace makes Impact with pollies
http://impact.myspace.com/
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The Age Asher Moses
July 12, 2007 - 1:47PM
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MySpace hopes its new Impact channel will spark political debate and engage younger voters. MySpace today launched its Impact channel for politicians and non-profit organisations, but don't expect to add the Prime Minister, John Howard, to your friends list.

Labor politicians outnumber Liberals two-to-one on the new channel, which MySpace general manager Rebekah Horne describes as an interactive tool that they can use to engage directly with voters, particularly younger ones who may feel alienated from the political process.

"The great thing about social networking is that it's an opportunity for them not just to be a prime minister, opposition leader or a treasurer ... but actually a real person," she said.

MySpace has over 3.6 million Australian users, which Horne said would be called on to answer political opinion polls. She said the number of MySpace "friends" a politician had would give an instant snapshot of their popularity. It is understood Mr Howard refused an offer to create his own MySpace profile because he did not want to lend his identity to a commercial organisation. Instead, a "Howard Government" link with Mr Howard's photo directs surfers to a general Liberal Party page.

In total 20 individual federal politicians now have MySpace pages, which contain biographies, family photos, campaign snaps, video clips and blog posts outlining policies. Some list their favourite music, books and movies; visitors to Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey's page are greeted with the Baha Men track, Who Let The Dogs Out.

They include 11 Labor, five Liberal, two Greens, one Family First and one Democrat. Horne said this was only a starting point and she hoped more politicians would sign up as the federal election looms closer.

But Horne stressed Impact was "not only about politics" - indigenous voice Deadly Impact, World Vision and Planet Ark also have a presence.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, who on his MySpace profile lists Simon and Garfunkel, Vivaldi and John Williamson among his favourite musical acts, said MySpace and the internet was an "enormously transformational technology" and "a good shot in the arm for Australian democracy". He described MySpace as the "public meeting space of the 21st century", and said the Impact channel provided "an extraordinary new public space for people to participate in the democratic process".

Greens leader Bob Brown also attended this morning's launch event and compared Impact to the "old town hall meeting", as it provided the "opportunity to get a heck of a lot of feedback". But Brown said it "remains to be seen just how much it will help people overcome their shyness" when it came to voicing their concerns. "It's a good feeling to be connected through cyberspace with people," he said.

Brad Walsh of Deadly Impact said the new MySpace channel would help "facilitate generational change in our leadership", as it would allow the group to "influence other young Aborigines that are coming up". He said many in remote indigenous communities had access to MySpace.

1. What is happening here?
2. Why MySpace?
3. Who is being connected with?