Withinevery society, groups of individuals come together to supportdeserving causes. Social activism is most common in the politicalarena, where groups bound by shared public interests act in concertto deliver votes for political parties. Societal and technologicalchange has accelerated the evolution of such large scale instances ofsocial collaboration with the advent of Internet. In particular, theinternet has transformed the value of information, by distributing itacross interactive platforms which facilitate unprecedentedparticipation from users and in the process enhancing the value ofinformation multifold. One area where the Internet has significantlyempowered groups of individuals with information is thesocio-political scenario of the nation.

Asthe voting public of the United States looks forward to the,all of the information gathered and analyzed about the activities,policies of and public attitudes towards both Barack Obama and JohnMcCain acquires immense value. Election web sites now encompass awide range of topics and services, including debate analysis, pollresults, voter turnout ratios, and predictions about voting behavior.The newspaper industry represents one form of media that hasmaximized the access and reach of election information over theinternet. Opinions, blogs and buzz are all examples of new forms ofmedia and information dissemination which have been spawned by theinternet, and which empower groups with the means to reach newmembers and influence election outcomes. For instance, the has a dedicated section on politics that caters to all citizens,delivering market analysis, and blogs with news and commentaryserving local markets. Additional services provided by publicationslike the New York Times also offer online, interactive and live chatrooms with market analysts and electoral consultants who providedeeper insight into the economical policies of each Presidentialcandidate.

Socialnetworking sites like Facebook and Twitter now host a diversity offorums that are dedicated to the posting and sharing of ideas andopinions about the coming election and each candidate. Onyou can find photos, discussion boards and career biographiesof both Obama and McCain. The network also empowers local groups withthe organizational tools to host events, and a powerful platform forpromoting candidates and their respective policies using posters andcards. Featured also are blogging arenas, and the capability to hostnational call groups for each candidate, to which friends and familycan be invited, and which make it much easier to reach out to otherlike-minded people across the country. These sites also nurturefriendships within groups by gathering together women, veterans andstudents and giving them the tools to form their own communities. On,there are streams of messages from users about each candidate?sperformance on the campaign trail. Both Obama and McCain have alsoused services like Facebook and Twitter as forums to generatesupport, solicit funds and propagate their policies and opinions.,Facebook's popular application which fuels a discussion communityof over two million people, recently launched its own to provide a forum for U.S. and global citizens to discover, voteupon and discuss the policies and positions of both candidates.

Clearly,the internet is the driving force contributing to the promotion andadvance of public awareness of national issues. Socio-politicalactivism on the net has instigated widespread cultural change, bysurfacing all election campaign activities, events and issuesavailable in the virtual world ? to all people, wherever they live.