The effectiveness of social media

Social media has recently taken hold of the political scene. In the campaign of 2008, Obama used social media to great advantage over the Republicans, wielding facebook, twitter, youtube, and more to garner attention and attract young voters. In Egypt, social media was used to organize a rebellion. It has been instrumental in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, and also a means to lobby legislators. Republicans have cottoned on to the idea and now have twitter and blogging experts on their staff who spend their time fact-checking and tweeting about political statements, making what happens in the White House and in Congress instantly accessible and debatable.

But is social media effective? Facebook groups reach out to young voters (an oxymoron of sorts) but barely reach the larger voting public. Despite Obama's heavy use of social media outlets, there was only a 2% increase in young voters between the 2004 and 2008 elections, and older voters stayed fairly consistent. (This could also be due to other factors.) Young voters (between ages 18 and 24) constitute barely a tenth of voters, yet account for almost a fifth of nonvoters. (Data from U.S. Census Bureau reports from 2004 and 2008)

Social media is good at organizing people, planning events, and getting out a message. But does it change anything on voting day?