Thursday, February 4th 2010

By jeff green

Thank god it’s Friday.

Well, not yet (at least as this goes to print), but I can’t wait. Take a walk through the student centre. Beautiful isn’t it? The walls are clean. Gone are the signs of the MSU election. The confetti of election posters – what I’ll remember as diarrhea with pretty faces on it – should all be taken down. Life will resume, and fewer people will bother you before class.

Even better, the Facebook spam will be gone. My friends list is different from yours, but I’m sure everyone’s Facebook will be considerably healthier without “vote for [insert candidate here].”

Regardless, that same barrage of spam should be remembered as the most successful part of this year’s MSU elections. For those freshman readers out there, last year’s campaigns were not allowed to use Facebook, and it suffered its worst voter turnout in recent memory.

This year’s turnout has passed last year’s numbers in the first of two days of voting. Kudos has to go to the elections committee for allowing a medium that so many use to engage students.

This is something the MSU should build on while they have steam. The current MSU web site lacks the accessibility that Facebook provides to McMaster students. Granted, the site does serve a purpose. It’s a point of reference, a place to find other clubs and e-mails of services. A place to engage? I’ll stick with Facebook.

As for the elections, I can’t see a candidate winning without a successful online campaign. Constant updates, videos, Facebook profile pictures will most likely lead to victory. I look forward for that successful candidate to continue that trend when they become MSU president, and ditch the current MSU website as a source of engagement.

With engagement and communication being paramount to a successful government, expect online voting to be next. Using a medium that is accessible to students is the next step for the MSU, especially when it comes to their votes.

Tags: Editorial, elections, Facebook, MSU elections, MSU website, nothing, online voting