Declare Yourself!
September 27, 2006 7:46 AM   Subscribe

MySpace has started a voter registration drive. MySpace has a ton of users, so this could be huge. Could this get young Americans to vote? I'm going to guess no, but you never know.
posted by chunking express (27 comments total)
 
You're automatically registered to vote by adding that profile as a friend, right?
posted by mikeh at 7:49 AM on September 27, 2006


You realize that MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, the same company behind Fox News, etc, right?
posted by ChasFile at 7:50 AM on September 27, 2006


Could this get young Americans to vote?

No. Particularly when none of the candidates care about young Americans; it's a downward spiral of mutual apathy.
posted by majick at 7:54 AM on September 27, 2006


I am really bothered by the assumption that every new person voting is automatically a good thing. I'm not against universal suffrage or anything, but frankly, those that are convinced to vote solely by a P. Diddy "Vote or Die" campaign or, God forbid, MySpace, do not exactly inspire confidence in me. It just seems that someone so easily swayed can likewise easily be swayed by misleading 30-second commercials, talk show pundits, etc. I guess the basic point is that it would be nice to have quality over quantity when it comes to new voters.
posted by Pontius Pilate at 7:56 AM on September 27, 2006


The funny cultural disconnect I noticed after our last state election in Qld, Australia in early September were a few newspaper opinion pieces decrying the fact that only 90% of the over-18 population voted!

This kind of campaigning is completely uneccessary where it is illegal not to vote (albiet with a slap on the wrist type fine).

Say what you will about our elected officials but you can't say that they weren't elected by a true majority vote.
posted by Silentgoldfish at 7:58 AM on September 27, 2006


I am really bothered by the assumption that every new person voting is automatically a good thing.

I don't think anyone suggested this. I would agree that a more informed voting body would be ideal.

If there was a large young voting bloc, then clearly politicians would need to pander to their votes as well, as opposed to ignoring them as a group out right.
posted by chunking express at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2006



Does NewsCorp know about this yet?

Look for this feature to "disappear" because of "technical problems" as soon the board gets wind of it.
posted by wfc123 at 8:04 AM on September 27, 2006


chunking express,

I think that assumption is inherent in these types of voter registration drives. The message is not "Become informed, then go vote"; rather, it is just "Go vote."
posted by Pontius Pilate at 8:05 AM on September 27, 2006


It's a good thing. People who aren't registered have no incentive to pay attention. People who are registered are much more likely to pay attention because they have that preliminary engagement, and thus become responsible voters.

The people who register and still don't give a damn aren't terribly likely to take the time to get out and vote -- the ignorant voter is by and large a non-issue. Of course, that still leaves lots of voters who are informed and yet mistaken in their conclusions, but that's another matter altogether.
posted by MattD at 8:16 AM on September 27, 2006


XQUZYPHYR said:

I've seen people on MTV who had more insight about politics and upcoming elections than Ana Marie Cox

I've seen people on late-night Cinemax who have more insight about politics than Ana Marie Cox.

And Pontius said:

it would be nice to have quality over quantity when it comes to new voters

Y'know, I think one of the most destructive notions in the world is this weird zeitgeist that those who truly grasp the political process are those that steep themselves in political news 24 hours a day. The Web is silly with it; there are way too many political bloggers (like Cox, and, to be fair, several whom I read regularly) who seem to forget that American government is more than a bunch of posing celebrities and fellow bloggers arguing over stupid minutae (like, seriously, the proximity of a given blogger's boobs to Bill Clinton). It's no wonder a lot of young people (and older people) would rather watch Survivor and Play XBox.
posted by hifiparasol at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2006


chunking express, that is exactly what the League of Young Voters is all about actually.

Building youth voter blocs, as well as manning registration and GOTV drives.

They have affiliates all over the US...and while I don't agree with 100% of their focus (of course, I am not thier target group/audience), it is cool to see someone actually implementing that 'good idea'

Check em out.
posted by das_2099 at 8:29 AM on September 27, 2006


An informed voter needs to be both informed and a voter. There's no reason these two must happen simultaneously, and they almost never do. If someone else is doing the work to make more voters, and you're worried about those voters being uninformed, I think the logical response would be to support those who are making them informed (e.g.). We can and should have both quality and quantity.
posted by scottreynen at 8:41 AM on September 27, 2006


I am really bothered by the assumption that every new person voting is automatically a good thing.
posted by ChasFile at 8:44 AM on September 27, 2006


Hell, that was a quote, not me. Sorry.
posted by ChasFile at 8:44 AM on September 27, 2006


They should just get the candidates for their local elections written in sharpie on their chests. One candidate on each side. THEN it might work. Without the seedy emo sexual tension of MySpace, it'll never work.
posted by hoborg at 8:49 AM on September 27, 2006


Holy crap could that have an impact on elections.

Btw, don't assume that Rupert Murdoch is all about Republicans. He's all about money. He's been talking to Hillary Clinton for a while now.
posted by empath at 8:56 AM on September 27, 2006


It's a great idea, and every little thing helps. This potentially could get huge.
posted by amberglow at 9:07 AM on September 27, 2006


For all those complaining that "not every new voter is necessarily a good thing":

The reason that this is a good thing is that young voters are always more statistically likely to vote against the incumbent. That's a large part of why there is such apathy among young voters; it's part of a specific strategy that is designed to keep career politicans in office and to keep the political elite a closed room.

More young people voting is always a good thing because it acts as a natural counterbalance to the people on the fringes of the electorate who will vote for their party no matter what. Think about it.

(That's not to say that you don't want them to be informed or that it's good for one party or the other, blah blah. But it is a force for change, and there is a reason why the young-voter bloc is historically suppressed.)
posted by spiderwire at 9:16 AM on September 27, 2006


Look for this feature to "disappear" because of "technical problems" as soon the board gets wind of it.

Everything on Myspace is always down with "technical problems." I guess the board must not like that new video of a dog on a skateboard either.
posted by Sandor Clegane at 9:23 AM on September 27, 2006


Declare Yourself has 204 friends.

Oh well.
posted by tapeguy at 9:35 AM on September 27, 2006


I am really bothered by the assumption that every new person voting is automatically a good thing. I'm not against universal suffrage or anything, but frankly, those that are convinced to vote solely by a P. Diddy "Vote or Die" campaign or, God forbid, MySpace, do not exactly inspire confidence in me.

In theory I agree with you, but in practice people who are targeted by those campaigns are likely to vote for democrats. People aren't running those campaigns just for the hell of it, you know. They are the result of tactical planning by democrats and their supporters.
posted by delmoi at 10:01 AM on September 27, 2006


Like they came out in droves for "rock the vote". Jeez Louise, gimme a break. The average young American cares more about World of Warcraft than real-world dictatorship. This is the generation who thinks that writing political blogs counts as "doing their part". Any hope for change will come from people over 30, or under 15. Generation Y can just sit there and do exactly what they've done for the last six years: sweet fuck all.
posted by slatternus at 10:35 AM on September 27, 2006


This kind of campaigning is completely uneccessary where it is illegal not to vote (albiet with a slap on the wrist type fine).

I wish that'd happpen here, but it's not likely. I'm sure the neocons would love to reinstate a poll tax.
posted by eustacescrubb at 10:37 AM on September 27, 2006


Jesus, why in hell would this be a good idea? This only guarantees that The Strokes will be write-in candidates for every office in the land.
posted by Afroblanco at 11:13 AM on September 27, 2006


My Bloody Valentine for President.

(to bring up another contentious thread)

(and oh yeah, they're Irish... guess we'll have to wait for the Schwarzenegger amendment til we can write them in).
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:54 PM on September 27, 2006


MySpace is coordinating/hosting Declare Yourself, which does appear to be an above-the-board non-partisan organization.

HONORARY CO-CHAIRS:

* President Jimmy Carter
* President Gerald R. Ford

ADVISORY BOARD:

* Lady Bird Johnson
* Nancy Reagan
* Chuck D, Artist, Activist
* Norman Lear
* Rob Reiner, Actor/Director, Chairman of I Am Your Child Foundation
* Cameron Diaz
* Dick Robinson, President and CEO of Scholastic
* John Carlin, Archivist of the United States
* David Rockwell, Architect
* Terry Semel, Yahoo!
* Matt Stone, Creator, South Park
* Trey Parker, Creator, South Park

PARTNERS :

* American Association of State Colleges and Universities
* American Library Association
* Council for Excellence in Government
* Election Systems and Software
* Freedom's Answer
* Friendster
* Google
* Kids Voting USA
* League of Women Voters
* National Archives
* National Association of Secretaries of State
* National Council for the Social Studies
* National Governors Association
* Newspapers in Education
* Rock the Vote
* Tree Media Group
* U.S. Chamber of Commerce
* Yahoo!
* YMCA of the USA
* Vibe


Sponsors include AXA, Yahoo!, ClearChannel, Friendster, and American Apparel, and the seed funding was provided by the Pew Charitable Trust, the Annenberg Foudnation, and the [Norman] Lear Family Foundation.

From a civic standpoint I think there is a clear public good in increasing the voter base. The electorate has shrunk dramatically as a percentage of the voting-age-population over the last few decades, but I don't think that shrinkage has just as dramatically improved the quality of our politics. Thus, a direct relationship probably does not exist.

From a populist/Democratic standpoint I also support it, because more people who aren't registered are Democrat supporters or agree with Democratic political stances. The GOP does some voter registration, but they get the majority of their GOTV boost from motivating the base and co-opting independents.

There's a debate on the left right now over whether some of the 2004 GOTV effort actually helped the other side. By contacting voters, even "1 - will absolutely vote for Kerry" voters, did we somehow inspire some people to get out to the polls for Bush? I don't think that's easily answerable, although somebody is probably working on it.

Finally, as an American, I think that voting is clearly a civic responsibility, but I'm appalled at the idea of making it a civic requirement. As noted that's is a non-starter given GOP suppression efforts, but I still feel compelled to reiterate that the fact that I can choose not to vote is a liberty as much as choosing to vote.

I do wonder though -- this Declare Yourself thing is a bit late -- there are only about 10 days left to register in some states. [pdf]
posted by dhartung at 5:39 PM on September 27, 2006


In any case, it's not like it really matters, even if these kids do get out and vote, what with your wonky Diebold machines you have down there. I hope we never give up good old fashioned paper and pencils here in Canada!

And to think that ten years ago we were all certain the we'd be voting over the internet by now.
posted by slatternus at 7:15 PM on September 27, 2006


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