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Preliminary Thoughts on the FaceBook Debates

Some preliminary thoughts on the ABC/Facebook debates:

  • I'm really not that impressed with the integration of Facebook. It's really a sponsorship in name only. If you go on the Facebook site, the polling and debates feel like something to do instead of watching the debate, not a compliment to the debate.
  • In this, they seem to be way behind what MySpace and MTV accomplished with their candidate forums. For my money, those events are still the gold standard for a more participatory presidential forum that capitalizes on social technologies and involves younger people in the process.
  • The questions that Facebook is polling on are far less substantive than those offered by MTV, as are the answer choices (yes/no or similar dichotomies vs. the six gradations of answer options offered by MTV/MySpace). I miss the Flektor Widgets.
  • Facebook users that are on the US Politics applications are overwhelmingly saying that the debates are helping them decide how to cast their ballot, but polling has shown that youth have paid a disproportionate attention to almost all debates this cycle (pdf), and compared to the total number of FaceBook users (and even users of the US Politics application), the number or respondents is paltry (about 14,000 respondents vs. 60 million active users).

Facebook Poll

  • Interestingly, Facebook users are almost echoing the 5-1 youth advantage that Obama enjoyed in Iowa. Compare that to ABC's general poll of the entire electorate:

Facebook Support

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January 5th, 2008 11:43pm
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Facebook debates

Submitted by plmccordj on Sun, 2008-01-06 14:01.

I watched the debates as well and found that the results to the Facebook polls were typically liberal biased as would be expected on a college campus. Lets hope when the results are reported, the news will inform those in the audience that Facebook's primary audience is college campi that is typically liberal. Facebook's polls are not scientific.

The questions asked on Facebook were not only liberal but the results were overwhelmingly liberal. Good story.
---
Paul L. McCord Jr.
http://www.paulmccord.net

Question Bias

Submitted by Michael Connery on Sun, 2008-01-06 14:23.

I don't know that the questions were biased. "Which candidate is more Presidential?" "Do you feel informed by the debates?"

Those are pretty neutral questions.

As for the slant of the Facebook audience, yes, younger people are turning towards the Democrats by larger and larger margins. So it makes sense that Facebook users would be more inclined to favor the Democratic candidates.