When Stephanie Weaver begins looking into the presidential elections, the Trinity University sophomore said she'll most likely turn to the Internet to conduct her research.

“That's where I get most of my news,” Weaver said. “Especially in college, I just don't watch TV that often. I feel like students spend a lot of time online.”

Weaver isn't alone. During this campaign, the presidential candidates have utilized the Internet to reach young voters. They've created Facebook and MySpace pages, posted videos on YouTube, created blogs and participated in Internet debates.

But there's no telling yet how the Internet will impact young people and the political scene, said Aaron Smith, a research specialist at the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project, who's been following the campaigns.

“If you're going to get involved in political campaigns and not have an online presence, people are going to look at you like you're crazy,” Smith said.

Steve Neiheisel, a St. Mary's University political science professor, agrees.
“That's the big wave of the future is Internet in politics,” Neiheisel said. “I don't know how else one would reach young people.”

The Internet is a cost-effective way to reach young people, he said, because Web sites are cheap to operate and they allow users to make lots of small contributions. According to Pew, 87 percent of people ages 18-29 are online.

Such information can make candidates aware of how to score the youth vote. But feelings are mixed as to whether this demographic will be more civically engaged than the young people of years past, according to a January 2007 Pew Research Center report.

Young people are associated with a long history of political apathy. In the 2004 presidential election, people ages 18-24 had the lowest voter turnout of all age groups, with 47 percent going to the polls.

But the youth voter turnout also spiked by 11 percent from the 2000 election, according to data from the nonpartisan organization the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Online, some candidates are enjoying popularity. With almost 159,000 supporters, Barack Obama might be the most popular candidate with a Facebook page, for example. Hillary Clinton is the second-most popular on the site with about 50,000 supporters, and Ron Paul trails her with almost 35,000 supporters.

Weaver said she's optimistic about her peers and the Internet as a tool to reach today's youths.

“Who says pop culture can't be a way to really change things?” Weaver said.