Some UW-Platteville students are using Facebook for more than poking strangers, finding a date or hiding embarrassing pictures; they are using the social networking site to publicize their campaign for Student Senate president and vice president.

At the candidate debate on April 1, nearly all the candidates mentioned that students should visit their Facebook group pages for more information on them and their platform. With nearly 1,000 users joining one or more of these groups, one can see why the candidates feel it is such a strong tool for their campaign.

Each of the four Senate presidential tickets: Andrew Lewis and Hanah Diebold, Eli Caywood and Cody Camacho, Brandon White and Dustin Brewer, and Zach Gevelinger and Lummy Rushiti, have created a Facebook group to give voters more information and also answer any questions before the election April 15-16. The candidates say it’s a great way to reach voters they otherwise couldn’t.

“We have used Facebook to layout our campaign platform so that students can review it and ask questions or leave comments,” Caywood said. “We have been able to use Facebook to contact our friends and their associates to build a network of support on campus.”

Facebook also provides greater freedom to candidates otherwise confined to the rules and regulations of Student Senate Election Code to reach students on campus.

UW-P Student Senate Election Code limits when and how candidates can distribute campaign material on campus. Article III (a)(3) of this code regulates distribution of campaign materials. It limits where material can be posted, how large posters can be and bans solicitation in the residence halls. The candidates said these regulations limit their ability to reach some students who they do not see in common areas or do not read the bulletin boards. Facebook, the candidates say, allows them to bridge the gap between their ticket and these students.

“The election code and campaign spending limits are probably the two biggest reasons why Facebook has been so popular inthis year’s campaign,” White said. “Facebook does not cost a dollar to use, but has just as big of an impact  as putting up posters around campus or passing out buttons and can koozies, which all can make for a hefty campaign bill by the end of the election. Facebook is just one of the many ways the candidates can make the best use their limited time and resources.”

This is not to say that the Student Senate Elections code also limits web content to one standardized biography and picture.

While Facebook has been a vital tool to these candidates , they admit that it is only a part of the puzzle they will need to assemble.

“Facebook is a free way to publicize your message, but it’s only one way to communicate with students,” Lewis said. “I believe face to face contact is far more important.”

“In the end, students are voting for a person, not just some name they saw on Facebook,” White said. “While Facebook might be a great way to initially tell students what we stand for, it’s kind of an impersonal way to ask voters to choose you as their next campus leader.”

“Nothing can replace face-to-face contact,” Caywood said. “Cody and I have a table in the PSC and have made numerous efforts to sit down and talk to students. Facebook is not the solution, but it can be difficult to a lot the necessary time to run a campaign with other obligations and Facebook allows us to talk to a lot of students at one time.”

The ticket of Gevelinger and Rushiti was contacted for a comment, but as of print time they had not responded.