Facebooking Politicians!

It seems our politicians are taking a leaf out of US President Barack Obama’s book and setting up an online presence.

Over the past two weeks, it seems that Fianna Fail has taken over Facebook the popular social networking site.

And it seems to be doing the trick of getting their message across to a targeted audience.

The only Minister currently engaging in active Facebook-ing is Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin.

He only went ‘live’ in the past two weeks but already he has built up a substantial Facebook presence with almost 450 ‘friends’.

He is using his page as an information focal point for his work, often updating it several times a day.

The page is also being used to cleverly circulate press releases and updates from the Minister.

Another Fianna Fail TD who is Facebook-ing a lot these days is Meath East TD Thomas Byrne.

Thomas is also using the page as a focal point for information for his constituents, giving them updates about road improvements and giving people a chance to quiz him on what matters to them.

John McGuinness is a man who has also taken to this Facebook phenomenon and again is using it as an information point for his constituency.

And then there are the political groups – Young Fine Gael, Ogra Fianna Fail, Labour etc. They are all getting in on the act.

There was once a time when Facebook was just a college version of Bebo. But it seems that our politicians know it is far more than that and are tapping into the benefits of it.