MySpace: Making a Mockery of Civic Participation Since 2003

In yet another move illustrating that MySpace is the #1 social network dedicated to screwing up meaningful integration of political engagement into online communities, MySpace is announcing that they will hold a Presidential Primary in early January, where MySpace users can vote for their favorite candidate. Tech Crunch has the details.

Let's review - you've got the attention of tens of millions of 18-29 year olds. You are the infrastructure of their social scene... you can either:

A. Meaningfully integrate political action into your platform and empower your users and their social circles.
B. Hold a mock high-school popularity contest in what will surely be a gimmicky banner-ad ladden free for all of ballot stuffing.

Way to go MySpace. Not to be cynical, but Jeebus. MySpace could do so much more. I mean big, big steps in making our democracy more participatory and engaging for younger voters. And this is the shit we get.

Read about MySpace's past mistakes here.