Facebook and ABC News have struck a deal to bring the 2008 Presidential Election into the online world of social networking. The partnership will include a new tool to help generate political debates on Facebook called the 'U.S. Politics' application.
The U.S. Politics application will allow Facebook users to create debate groups to discuss the issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Election, the candidates and more. ABC News will also provide political content, which will be available on Facebook throughout the 2008 election and will be designed to match the existing look and feel of the Facebook site. The content provided by ABC News will include videos and 'dispatches' from some of ABC News' political correspondents as well as political polls with the results being published on the site throughout the 2008 Presidential Election campaign.
Here's what ABC had to say about the political content they'll provide on Facebook through their correspondents:
"Members can subscribe to the profiles of ABC News reporters who will be embedded with presidential hopefuls throughout the campaign. Each reporter will continually post up-to-the-minute news stories, blogs and photographs documenting the behind-the-scenes action from the road directly onto Facebook, according to ABC, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co. and includes this website."
I think the US Politics application on Facebook will be very popular. People love to debate politics, and it fits well into the social networking aspect of Facebook. While many of the 56 million active users of Facebook use the site for business networking, there is also a large user-base who would welcome additional 2008 Presidential Election groups and information to supplement the political conversations they are already having. It seems like a natural brand extension for Facebook and ABC News.
What do you think? Will U.S. Politics be popular on Facebook? According to an article on ABCnews.com, registered Facebook members can visit the U.S. Politics section on Facebook by searching for "U.S. Politics" in the Facebook search field.
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