Geek Poll: The MyFace Friends Ticker

Vidcasting is the new orthodoxy. This is a simple statement of fact. It is true, undeniable. We know this because John Howard, Prime Minister and misty-eyed Luddite, is himself doing it. And he's doing it regularly. If you are a disillusioned school leaver, Molotov cocktail-clutching Anarchist, or a kiddie with an unhealthy fondness for Tim-Tams, you have been targeted by one of Mr Howard's YouTube missives.

Of course, John is not alone. Alternative Prime Minister Kevin "do these glasses make my brain look fat" Rudd is at it too. The message we are getting from our political leaders is that, in this election year, cyberspace matters. The Coalition and Labor are attempting to woo youth online -- not in the way parents are being told to worry about -- but as a vote winner.

And that makes the social networking pages of a our political heavyweights important, doesn't it? If Kev, John and the rest are getting through to the kids won't this be reflected on their respective Facebook and MySpace pages?

As a reader service in the lead up to the election Crikey will be monitoring the Facebook and MySpace pages of Australia's leading politicians, and reporting daily on the number of friends each is registering on both sites.

Whether the figures point to a landslide, a cliffhanger or mere popularity among the nation's nonvoters remains to be seen.

Below are the numbers as at 21 November 2007:

 Candidate

MySpace Friends

Facebook Friends

Total

1. Kevin Rudd (ALP)

-

23452

4908 

28360

2. Peter Garrett (ALP)

-

4427

-

4427

u1

655

3418

4073

4. Julia Gillard (ALP)

d1

2996

-

2996

5. Bob Brown (Green)

-

2407

-

2407

6. Joe Hockey (Lib)

-

1023

855 

1878

7. Greg Combet (ALP)

-

882

-

882

8. Wayne Swan (ALP)

-

804

-

804

9. Maxine McKew (ALP)

-

723

-

723

10. Tanya Plibersek (ALP)

-

300

355

655

11. Warren Snowdown (ALP)

-

445

 90

535

12. Peter Costello (Lib)

-

227

245

472

13. Steve Ciobo (Lib)

-

170

171

341

14. Stephen Conroy (ALP)

-

304

-

304

15. Catherine King (ALP)

-

301

-

301

u1

286

286

17. Malcolm Turnbull (Lib)

d1

281

-

281

258

-

19. Nicola Roxon (ALP)

d1

243

-

243

20. Arch Bevis (ALP)

-

242

-

242

21. Sharon Grierson (ALP)

u1

214

214

22. Bob McMullan (ALP)

d1

207

-

207

23. Dennis Jensen (Lib)

159

-

159

24. Sharon Bird (ALP) 

-

91

78

153

 25. Steve Fielding (FF)

-

119

-

119

26. Mark Powell (Lib)

-

87

-

87

u1

32

53

85

28. Robert McLelland (ALP)

d1

74

-

74

29. Ken Ticehurst (Lib)

-

60

 -

60

30. Chloe Fox (ALP)

-

55

-

55

30. Mark Vaile (Nat)

u1

55

-

55

32. Dick Adams (ALP)

49

-

49