Facebook statuses act as news sources in election
Nicole Smith
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: News
When Sen. Barack Obama won the presidency last week, CNN, ABC and other media outlets broadcasted the news.
But some people could have gotten the news just by refreshing their Facebook homepages.
On Election Night, some students said they saw Facebook statuses such as "My president is finally black," "Congratulations Obama," "U.S.S.A. - United Socialist States of America," and "I'm moving to Canada, who's coming with me?"
In the last election, Facebook didn't exist, but this year, the Web site gave members the chance to say which candidates they supported through their statuses, join groups for the candidates and "donate" their statuses on Election Day.
"Donating a status" reminded people to vote.
Junior theater major David Hutto said the majority of statuses and advertisements he saw were negative and dealt with moving to another country because of Obama's win. He said when he saw some of them, he was upset.
"Not at the people speaking out," he explained, "but the ignorance of some people and some of the things that were being written (on Facebook)."
Many statuses declared intentions of moving to another country, Hutto said. In response, he went online and found one-way ticket prices for Canada and Australia.
Jaclyn Agness, a senior biology major, said statuses could affect the election, particularly for people who don't watch the news, but added the Internet in general has become "the news source," rather than just Facebook.
"For example, Obama used text messaging and his Web site to promote his campaign," Agness said. "I thought this was a brilliant idea because we are moving so quickly to such a technologically-based society."
She said she saw people creating groups and setting up meetings and rallies for the candidates.
Facebook also gave members the opportunity to donate their statuses to support one of the two candidates.
Outside of the election, some students said people use their statuses to let people know what they are doing and what is on their minds.
But some people could have gotten the news just by refreshing their Facebook homepages.
On Election Night, some students said they saw Facebook statuses such as "My president is finally black," "Congratulations Obama," "U.S.S.A. - United Socialist States of America," and "I'm moving to Canada, who's coming with me?"
In the last election, Facebook didn't exist, but this year, the Web site gave members the chance to say which candidates they supported through their statuses, join groups for the candidates and "donate" their statuses on Election Day.
"Donating a status" reminded people to vote.
Junior theater major David Hutto said the majority of statuses and advertisements he saw were negative and dealt with moving to another country because of Obama's win. He said when he saw some of them, he was upset.
"Not at the people speaking out," he explained, "but the ignorance of some people and some of the things that were being written (on Facebook)."
Many statuses declared intentions of moving to another country, Hutto said. In response, he went online and found one-way ticket prices for Canada and Australia.
Jaclyn Agness, a senior biology major, said statuses could affect the election, particularly for people who don't watch the news, but added the Internet in general has become "the news source," rather than just Facebook.
"For example, Obama used text messaging and his Web site to promote his campaign," Agness said. "I thought this was a brilliant idea because we are moving so quickly to such a technologically-based society."
She said she saw people creating groups and setting up meetings and rallies for the candidates.
Facebook also gave members the opportunity to donate their statuses to support one of the two candidates.
Outside of the election, some students said people use their statuses to let people know what they are doing and what is on their minds.
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