Inspired by Obama,
Facilitated by Facebook,
UC San Diego Democrat Clubs Merge

UC San Diego’s politically active students adopt Obama’s social networking tactics

February 4, 2009

By Christine Clark

Barack Obama has been called the “YouTube President” because he successfully gained support from young people during his presidential campaign using text messaging, and social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. Like millions nationwide, students at UC San Diego are continuing to use social media to engage in politics and stay connected to the new president and each other.

Sean Quirk is a sophomore at UCSD who worked for the Obama campaign and attended the Presidential Inauguration in January.

The night of President Obama’s inauguration, members from all three of UC San Diego’s Democratic clubs, the Progressive College Democrats, College Democrats at UCSD and Students for Barack Obama, began merging into one group using Facebook and text messaging.

“We wanted to join forces in response to President Obama’s call to service,” College Democrat Johan De La Torre said. “We share a lot of ideas; now we will be able to do more.”

Obama mobilized millions of people using the Internet to access social networks on websites such as Facebook, according to James Fowler, a UC San Diego political science professor. “Rather than knocking on someone's door or cold-calling them, you help them have coffee with one another, where they'll discuss the candidates,” he said. “So you're promoting social interaction.”

Fowler says the Internet also helped Obama raise record-high campaign funds. “The campaign team understood that once you give, the behavior spreads in your social networks,” he said. “You say to your friends on Facebook, ‘I gave money to the Obama campaign.’ They hear that, and then they're more inclined to give, too.”

The evening of Obama’s inauguration, the Democratic clubs’ secretaries sent out a mass text message to their group: “Today we celebrated the swearing in of our 44th President, Barack Obama, with Americans across this country. We woke up early and gathered as citizens watching President Obama put his hand on Lincoln’s Bible. In his speech, Obama said ‘Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the work begins.’”

On that note, the students created a Facebook event, inviting members to the first meeting of the United College Democrats on Jan. 22. About 40 students attended to discuss their goals for the group and their upcoming election.  The students created two more Facebook events, one inviting students to run for leadership positions in the new club and another inviting them to attend the club’s election on Jan. 29.

The College Democrats elected their student leaders after receiving an invitation to the event on Facebook.

“This merger of the three clubs into one could not have gone so smoothly without Facebook,” De La Torre said. “Having the ability to accomplish this in a relatively short amount of time with so many people who have a variety of ideas was definitely amazing to witness.”

Sophomore Sean Quirk was elected president of the United Democrats on Jan. 29. He worked for the Obama campaign and attended the inauguration in Washington D.C. Quirk is no stranger to texting, he founded the Progressive Democrats student group in Spring 2008, using text messaging to organize meetings and voter registration drives. “Political organizing requires direct and quick communication,” he said. “I would message volunteers ten minutes prior to the meeting to remind them of their commitment. Text messaging is a great tool since direct communication is required for grassroots organizing.”

Both De La Torre and Quirk say Facebook will be a major tool for the United College Democrats. “Through Facebook, we can message all group members and create events for service projects and club meetings,” De La Torre said. “We learned to coordinate our talent during the campaingn and we will continue to working together to support future causes.”

Media Contact: Christine Clark, 858-534-7618