As I write this, voters are going to the polls in Indiana and North Carolina to vote for the Democratic nominee for The American Presidency. The frontrunner going into the poll is Barrack Obama, one of the fastest rising politicians in the history of the country. His appeal among young and first-time voters has been unparalleled and much of his success within that demographic has been aided by extensive use of social media, including viral videos and a Facebook campaign that has truly defined the service’s seismic potential.

With the help of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, Obama has coordinated a massive following from the wired community.

Here are some facts about Obama’s Facebook Empire:

• As of mid March, the “American Politics” application on Facebook listed Obama as the 5-1 favorite over Hillary Clinton. In addition, the Obama campaign was a launch partner for Facebook’s new F8 platform. (http://newsbusters.org/node/13288)

• One group on Facebook, “Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)”, has 811,474 members as of May 5, 2008 (http://www.facebook.com/barackobama)
  
• Obama attended a rally at George Mason University organized by “Students for Barack Obama”, a group that began on Facebook, with several thousand in attendance (Source: Washington Post article)

• Chris Hughes is currently organizing the campaign’s social networking site MyBarackObama.com where supporters can set up personal blogs and organize rallies and meet-ups to promote their candidate.
  
• Just as the 2004 Presidential election helped bring blogging to greater prominence, in part creating “The Year of the Blog”, 2008 looks to be the year of social networking. The importance of this medium has become increasingly apparent in this campaign. Now, the previously disenfranchised youth vote has greater accessibility to information and can be better connected with a candidate and their supporters. In a corporate media environment that is largely marketed to older demographics with higher buyer power, sites like Facebook and services like Twitter can present a clearer picture for younger audiences looking to connect with issues concerning them, not just the dictates of older generations.

• As it has become apparent in small states like Iowa, where the majority of caucus and primary voters are seniors, the youth vote is crucial to changing the dynamics of the electoral process that have never been addressed and energized in such a way beforehand.

While the ultimate outcome of this Facebook and social media revolution remains to be seen for Senator Obama, its fair to say that their role in his campaign has helped framed the primary process this year.

What are your thoughts on the 2008 election? Have you voted or planning to vote in the primaries and did you use social media in anyway to come to your decision?