Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The New Campaign: Social Networking Sites In The 2008 Presidential Election, Ashley Payne

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study examines how Social-Networking sites were used in the 2008 presidential election with emphasis on Facebook and how this use impacted the youth vote. The 2008 election was the first in the history of elections to utilize such campaign tactics. Findings indicated that social-networking sites more than likely did have an impact on the election. Although this impact was not a direct impact, through political socialization, campaigning through Facebook did help increase awareness of election related information. Findings also indicated that a less is more strategy is better when using social-networking sites for campaigning as well as focusing messages …