According to some student users, Facebook was both a place for candidates to relate to younger voters and a forum for users to express political views during the 2008 Presidential Election race, but some also expressed concern about the way young adults were being influenced by messages on the site.

Ashleigh Clair, a graduate student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, said that sites like Facebook have an effect on young people. She thought it was wise of candidates to focus on the Internet as part of their campaign because it shows their interest in young people.

But Clair said she is worried that younger voters are impressionable and can be swayed by peers and celebrities instead of educating themselves on a candidate’s history or views.

“If a young girl is head over heels for Justin Timberlake, then visits Barack Obama’s Facebook page and sees Justin Timberlake as one of Obama’s supporters or friends, you can guarantee this will increase her affinity or at the very least stimulate her interest, even subconsciously, for that particular candidate,” she said.

Naeemah Clark, assistant professor of journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee, said she thinks celebrity ties are just another aspect of the candidate. She said Obama’s celebrity associations are similar to Sarah Palin’s associations with her children and snowmobiles.

“If the celebrities help you make a decision, although as ridiculous as it is to make a decision to vote for Sarah Palin and John McCain because her husband is a snowmobile racer or you know because Obama is Facebook friends with Scarlett Johansson. If that’s how you make your decision, that’s unfortunate. But that’s just another part of who that person is,” Clark said.

She also pointed out that it is hard to influence one’s point of view unless they are undecided.

“A lot of media research effects talks about you can’t really sway someone. If I’m a McCain supporter, I’m a McCain supporter, and you can show me a thousand ads about Barack Obama, and I’m not going to change my mind,” Clark said. “But if I’m on the fence, and you show me ads, and you show me Facebook, and you show me he’s texting me, … maybe that will help me make my decision if I’m not sure where to go.”

Stephanie Joyce, a graduate student at UT, said she used Facebook to encourage others to vote and constantly checked the site to read things the campaigns posted.

But Joyce also expressed concern over users not researching key issues or candidates’ positions.

“Friends encourage you to vote a certain way through Facebook,” she said. “But they never tell you why, like talk about the issues or positions of candidates.”

Nathan Kelly, assistant professor of political science at UT, said he observed a lot of Facebook users posting political statements to their wall and updating their statuses with political messages.

But he also didn’t see much in-depth political discussion.

“Most of the statements were simply statements of their own opinion rather than an explicit attempt to influence someone else's thinking,” Kelly said.

Clark said she isn’t surprised users weren’t having in-depth political conversations on the site.

“I’ve been working a bit with this idea that Facebook is an accessory. It’s like earrings,” she said. “It’s not everything you are. It is just one little part. … Facebook is not a place for in-depth analysis. I mean the whole thing is set up to be like three sentences long.”

Kelly Ilardi, a graduate student at New York University, said she used Facebook in an attempt to influence votes by posting a YouTube link in her status about Barack Obama supporters who were voting for the candidate without knowing what he stood for.

Ilardi said she thought Facebook might have elevated Obama’s status with younger voters.

“I think young people subconsciously saw all the Obama promotions and thought it would be the cool thing to do to vote for him,” she said.

Kelly said it is too soon to tell if Facebook played a role in Obama’s victory.

“I don't think we yet know enough about the dynamics of the 2008 race to give a definitive or even informed top of the head answer to this question,” he said.

Clark doesn’t think Obama’s use of Facebook made him seem cool as much as it showed his understanding of what young people are interested in.

“Young people are a very difficult audience to reach,” Clark said. “College students don’t watch that much TV. They don’t read the newspaper. … They’re online. They have their social networking sites. They’ve got their iPods and video games. How else can you reach the young people? Well you reach them through social networking sites and through their video games, which is what Obama did in both cases.”