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How are you connecting to your favorite presidential candidate?  Odds are you are doing it in ways you never have before.  Maybe you’re connected in the 1st degree on Linked IN.  Does he occupy the position of “Top Friend” on your Myspace page?  Are you a fan on Facebook or is he is just one of your many Twitter Tweeps?

Okay if you are totally lost, a little annoyed, and don’t know what the heck I am talking about you may be in need of a crash course in Social Media.  I know it sounds a little strange but it’s the way many people are connecting and gathering information online these days and it’s playing a very important role in this current Presidential election.

Social Media as defined in Wikipedia is “an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, audio and video” or as Marta Kagan puts is in her excellent slideshow, “Social Media is people having conversations online.”

Sounds simple enough right?  But these seemingly basic concepts are being used in ways they never have before.  They are reaching more people than ever, in more ways than ever and in doing so helping to decide a Presidential Election.

In order to be taken seriously a candidate must be able to effectively communicate their message utilizing the technology and media of the day.  In the past this meant manipulating the few powers that be in order to hopefully get your message portrayed fully and accurately to the people you want to reach.  

Not an easy task for even the most savvy of politicians.  

We don’t need to go any further than our experience with the game of Telephone back in the first grade to remind us that whenever a message is being delivered by someone other than the originator, the odds of it being delivered in tact go down as the number of people delivering it go up.  

Anyone else remember a sentence like “I am in the pool in the backyard” making its way thru a dozen or so 1st graders and ending up,  ”George ate a huge cookie in a barn?”  Not exactly accurate.

Today the message can come straight to you from the candidate bypassing all middlemen and daydreaming 1st graders.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama has been celebrated for his embracing of the Internet. Obama has a website that allows users to read his stance on issues in full, view videos of entire speeches, form and join groups, create and add to discussions, mobilize meetings and of course donate money.

However, with all the good comes all of the bad.  Just as the Internet can help communicate accurate information it can also be used to spread lies, rumors and falsehoods at a rate previously unseen.   

Obama has also utilized the new media to help fight any smear campaigns thrown his way by developing a site that debunks false rumors and attacks.

Republican candidate John McCain also has a site complete with a MySpace clone, “McCainSpace”, where his supporters and others can discuss issues and ideas as well.

But just having a website and a forum isn’t enough these days, you have to go where the people are and not just expect them to come to your site like a dog to a dinner dish.  Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and YouTube are some of the new hot spots of political campaigns, providing a middle ground where campaigns and voters can interact equally.

Social Media finally allows candidates the opportunity to communicate their message, their side of things, directly to the people in a non-intrusive, accurate and intimate way. Not only that, it’s allowing a dialogue between the campaign and the people that has the potential to be more direct and transparent than ever before.

There are pitfalls and hurdles to be sure.  Stances on issues are put online for all to see at anytime, gaffes and missteps will be played ad nauseum on YouTube and even a flip-phone can record a flip-flop.  There is no town too small, no speech too insignificant and seemingly no place to hide from the new and social media.