MySpace, MyPolitics

The Nation: Networking Sites Getting The Word Out On Politics

(The Nation) 

Yet the messages also spread to young people who showed little interest in immigration or activism. The MySpace page of "G," a student at Marshall Senior High in Los Angeles, is devoted to Nike sneakers and rap music. But by late April, "G" posted what appeared to be his first political message, advising his friends to participate in the "National Boycott for Immigrant Rights No Work! No School! No Business as Usual!" Similar messages were quickly transmitted and discussed across pre-existing friendship networks. The Dallas Morning News reported that the pro-immigration rallies may be "the largest political gathering organized on [MySpace]."

The immigration protests suggest that fairly apolitical young people can quickly be moved from politics online to activism in the streets if the issue is salient and if the information comes from trusted sources. With millions of young people connected through these social networking sites, is it time for a political MySpace?

One new website, Essembly.com, is betting the answer is yes. Founded by Harvard senior Joe Green with venture capital, the start-up is billed as a "fiercely non-partisan" networking site for the "politically interested" to debate ideas and organize. While social sites tend to connect people based on where they live and what they like to do, Essembly adds ideological links to the matrix. Green contends that people usually visit social networking sites because they're trying to "get laid or have a conversation." Essembly encourages the latter, by asking users to vote on simple statements, called resolves, which are provided by both the website and users. They range from offhand musings, like "I can't stand kids who think its cool to hate America," to policy pronouncements such as "The United States should continue with its plans to build a wall on its southern border to help slow the flow of illegal immigration from coming into our nation." After voting, users can see the aggregate results and search for people, informal groups and organizations that are "ideologically close," and define friends, "allies" and even "nemeses."

While Essembly is still in its beta testing stage, new users have already begun debating immigration and the recent student activism. By May 26, there were twenty-four resolves about immigration and border patrol, including one discussing the protests' impact. One day after the national boycott, Ben Huizenga, a Chicago voter who recently joined the site, wrote that the marchers' "demonstration of political activism and self sufficiency" could appeal to the general public. Pat Goltz, a Tucson resident who lists Americans for Limited Government among her groups, countered that the boycott "backfired."

While many popular Essembly groups have been created by users, such as "Socially Conscious Surfers" and "Proponents of Minor's Rights," several organizations are experimenting with top-down recruitment through the site, including the College Republicans, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Appollo Alliance. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC, has already organized two Essembly groups: An official group featuring its logo and mission statement and a group for "Heritage Interns." Meanwhile, the Campaign for America's Future, a progressive policy center, formed an Essembly group that allows users to compare their ideology to its founder, Robert L. Borosage, who has voted on twelve resolves and written seven original comments.

It is still too early to tell whether social networking sites will engage and empower a significant number of new activists or young people. Essembly may provide a dynamic space for new people across the political spectrum to debate ideas and take action, but it could also reveal that ideological social networking appeals mostly to the activists who are already engaged.
The immigrant protests did prove that young people in America can still mobilize for massive, coordinated and effective progressive action. Whether that will happen again soon does not simply depend on the issues at stake. It depends on how political leaders regard traditionally powerless groups, and whether the Internet generation decides politics is so personal that it is worth pushing on their friends.