Microsoft has partner with activist group, Rock The Vote, to allow Xbox Live users to register to vote in the upcoming U.S. Presidential Elections in November 2008. They have entered into this agreement with the overall strategy to encourage younger citizens to become more aware of what takes place in the political environment and also give them the chance to elect someone who they think will represent them well. The partnership will also allow for Xbox 360 owners to cast their votes in opinion polls, which could give a better idea as to which presidential party is gaining more support. There will also be discussion boards where Xbox Live members can voice their opinions about current political happenings. Microsoft is also doing their part to publicize the system by going to actual Democratic and Republican conventions, with the aim of making the politicians aware of the new system.
Heather Smith of Rock the Vote had much to say about the partnership,
To realise our goal of registering two million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are,There’s no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
This type of drive is not the first of its kind. In the past, we saw other sites partnering to encourage younger citizens to become aware of what goes on in their political environment. Sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace are some of the big social networks currently engaged in U.S. Election campaigning.
Rock The Vote is certainly looking in the right places. With the aim of encouraging 2 million young citizens to vote, they are selecting the right forms of media in which to publicize the whole youth voting campaign. At the end of the day, everyone wants to feel like they were part of the decision when it comes to selecting a presidential candidate. Past U.S. statistics show low turn outs among youth voters, and I think this really doesn’t give us a fair result. However many youth are either afraid or just ‘lazy’ to vote, resulting in these biased numbers. However, with the new campaigns being initiated, we might just see a real rise in youth voters and hopefully a better decision in the long run.
via: BBC
