Candidates Hit Social Media As Free Way To Get Out Vote

With only one week left until Election Day, many candidates are trying to get their messages out.

One way they’re doing that is free.

If you check your Twitter account and your Facebook page for updates, then you have something in common with the politicians.

They’re burning up the web trying to get your vote on sites we all visit on a daily – sometimes hourly basis.

Democrats started the social media campaigning in the 2008 election on Twitter.

Now, in 2010, both parties are immersed in making sure they’re seen on social media, and they could be giving the old fashioned polling system a run for its money.

Take gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. In a poll over the weekend, it showed her down double digits against democrat Jerry Brown.

Take a look at how many fans she has on Facebook.

Right now, Whitman has nearly 182,000. Jerry Brown has almost less than half of that.

It’s not scientific, but a good gauge at a candidate’s popularity.

In the race for senate, the polls show it neck-and-neck.

Not so when you look at how many fans each of the candidates has on their Facebook pages.

Carly Fiorina is trailing by nearly half.

Here’s an interesting note, too.

Three-fifths of Americans are on Facebook or Twitter. Seventy-percent of those people intend to vote. So getting out the campaign message on social media has never been more important for a campaign.