Although it has already been mentioned over on the Yalsa Blog I felt it was time to throw in my support for the new Myspace Channel called Impact. This is a very interesting new channel, which provides myspacers with links to the myspace pages of presidential candidates as well as a link to a page that will help someone register to vote online. There are other things the page offers, such news, videos, and more, which relates to making an impact in the world.

Channels like this could have a big impact on our youth. It gives politicians a means to try and reach an age group they hadn’t previously been able to communicate with very well. Now a teenager can simply get on myspace to read about candidate’s issues, and even comment on the page or send a message with a question to them. Even better, this has the potential of spreading quickly because every teen that is interested in a candidate or issue, can add links to their profile, include that candidate as a friend, or mention it in their blog. For more info about the channel and the impact it could have check out this recent NY Times article.

So what does this mean for us as librarians? Well, as librarians obviously we should be excited about anything that helps provide information to the people who need it. So something that connects youth and political information should be worth a look. There are a lot of ways we can try to get the word out about this source. Link to it on your websites, mention it in your blog, have a program centered on politics for youth, or even create a bookmark or pathfinder with political info for your teens. If you have a myspace, mention it there and add a banner for the register to vote page. Also, when you are talking with your teens simply mention that you saw this cool new site. This is a great new site which goes along with other resources such as Rock the Vote, which we need to be encouraging our youth to check out. Don’t forget many of our 16 year olds right now will be eligible to vote in the next election.