Using Facebook to Actually Do Something

This was the year when candidates started using Facebook for networking purposes. But while a few candidates actually used the technology as an end to a means -- my guess is that most candidates never really took advantage of the possibilities. Hotline's On the Download asks the question, "... how does a candidate turn his or her 'friends' into 'volunteers' or 'activists'?"

And the answer, it seems, is: hard work:

Jacob Colker used facebook to recruit a couple hundred volunteers. As Peter Franchot for Maryland Comptroller statewide field director, Colker said it's a matter of using the microtargeting that Facebook sets up. The downside, according to Colker, is that it's tedious work for one lucky campaign staffer.

"You need a computer-savvy, almost nerdy-quiet person to sit there on the Web sites and try to talk to as many people as possible," said Colker.