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MySpace, MTV give candidates unfiltered contact with young voters

In the latest effort to embrace new media and encourage young adults to vote, MySpace and MTV are teaming up to stage a series of live, interactive forums with the leading presidential candidates.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and several other White House hopefuls will each sit down separately for an hourlong discussion with a live audience and, at the same time, respond to questions and comments streaming in through instant messages, e-mails and text messages.

Former Sen. John Edwards will be the first to take the stage on Sept. 27.

“We’re taking advantage of Web 2.0 in a way that’s never been done before,” said Jeff Berman, MySpace’s senior vice president of public affairs. “This gives us a chance to reach such a critical mass of young people in this country that we believe can really move the needle.”

The 2008 race is widely being recognized as the first MySpace-YouTube election, one that is taking advantage of the newest Internet tools to tap and interact with potential voters. No longer dependent on traditional media such as newspapers and television, politicians are broadcasting their latest moves and appearances through mobile services such as Twitter. They have set up profiles on social networking sites including MySpace and Facebook, becoming friends with hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Last month, CNN and YouTube, the popular video sharing site, held the first live Democratic debate, which incorporated video questions submitted by YouTube users and selected by CNN.

MySpace and MTV said they are taking it one step further. Although the discussion will be moderated, the direction and questions will be determined by the crowd, and constant polls will gauge the audience’s response.

“It’s an unfiltered conversation,” said Ian Rowe, MTV’s vice president of strategic partnerships. “It’s a true back-and-forth with each candidate. It’s different from other debates that have transpired before because you have a true digital representation of the community.”

MTV and MySpace are still working out the details, including the schedule, and how the flow of messages will be managed. To participate, MySpace members will have to download the site’s instant messaging program. Everyone will be able to send e-mails and text messages. The forum will be held on college campuses, aired on MTV and mtvU and Webcast on MTV.com and MySpaceTV.

Although the YouTube and CNN debate accepted user-generated questions, one of the chief criticisms was that CNN controlled the ones that were presented.

“When the questions can be voted on or decided by the electorate instead of one or two people in the press, then I think we will see a revolution,” said Shabbir Safdar, co-founder of Mindshare Interactive, a digital public affairs firm.

Still, it established the influence the Internet is having on the impending elections.

“There will be trials and errors and experiments that don’t work,” said Peter Leyden, director of the New Politics Institute, a think tank in San Francisco. “But the general trend is that these new technologies have come of age.”

The largest social networking site on the Web, MySpace drew more than 46 million users last month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Although the site is known for its young audience, 81 percent of users are 18 and older, a separate comScore Media Metrics report said.

“Politics has always been about social networking,” Leyden said. “It’s who you know and getting them to vote.”

Original URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/23/BUKRRNEQP.DTL