Breaking: Colbert Mobilizes 1,000,000 in One Week

Colbert million screenshot

Well, theyâ€™ve done it.

The fastest growing Facebook group ever has reached its goal of 1,000,000 members in nine days. I must admit, I joined this group relatively shortly after its creation, coming in at number 22,436. I never would have thought that in just over a week, one million Gen Yâ€™ers would be able to assemble for any cause, let alone in support of a presidential candidate, and apparently neither did anyone else.

This leads me to wonder, though. If a cable television host can rally the support of such a massive number of Facebook users to vote for him in such a brief period of time with no campaign marketing budget and no door-to-door canvassing, why are 40% of this one million not yet registered to vote?. Are we to believe that Gen Y has come to its senses that suffrage is the â€œreasonâ€ why US troops are in Iraq? Does this signify a sudden surge in interest in the 2008 election? Is this Facebook group indicative of next yearâ€™s â€œGet Out The Voteâ€ campaign figures?

Probably not. Diddyâ€™s Vote or Die campaign turned out to be all sizzle and no steak, and Colbertâ€™s presidential aspirations will likely fizzle out by election time. As is evidenced by another Facebook group, â€œI watch Comedy Central for my news and Fox News for my Comedyâ€, this politically inactive and seemingly apathetic demographic is just going through the motions of showing their support for a candidate, but then again, no one believed that Colbert could muster this massive outpouring of support in a week.

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65220 Comments2007-10-26+09%3A58%3A37Rana+Sobhany »

Hey Nick – while I agree it is impressive I also think the underlining support for the cause was secondary to the excitement of reaching the goal. I joined at the 989,976 point last night and then watch as the wall postings flashed by. I was actually kinda fun to see how many people wanted an add or a poke or declared their luv for Raj, (I will admit to wasting an hour hitting refresh). For me as a Gen-X Canadian it was about looking at the power of a network and feeling of being connected through a common thread. As for the 989,975 before me well they may have had a more serious reason – for me it was because it was Colbert – and because it was neat.Hope the west coast is treating you well.Cheers – Eric

Comment by E Dewhirst — October 26, 2007 @ 3:16 am
Hey Nick – while I agree it is impressive I also think the underlining support for the cause was secondary to the excitement of reaching the goal. I joined at the 989,976 point last night and then watch as the wall postings flashed by. I was actually kinda fun to see how many people wanted an add or a poke or declared their luv for Raj, (I will admit to wasting an hour hitting refresh). For me as a Gen-X Canadian it was about looking at the power of a network and feeling of being connected through a common thread. As for the 989,975 before me well they may have had a more serious reason – for me it was because it was Colbert – and because it was neat.

Hope the west coast is treating you well.

Cheers – Eric

Comment by E Dewhirst — October 26, 2007 @ 4:16 am
[...] [via] Link to This Post: [...]

Pingback by Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has Million Members — October 26, 2007 @ 7:14 am
Unfortunately, joining Facebook groups is just about all you can get this demo to do.

Comment by Charlie — October 27, 2007 @ 3:13 am
[...] [via] [...]

Pingback by redopinion.com » Blog Archive » Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members — October 27, 2007 @ 6:33 am
[...] a Facebook application supporting Stephen Colbert can get 1 million members in nine days, then perhaps Save An Alien, an Israeli Facebook-only startup, can reach their [...]

Pingback by Do The Right Thing: Save An Alien (and this startup) — October 27, 2007 @ 7:23 am
Unfortunately, joining Facebook groups is just about all you can get this demo to do.

Comment by Charlie — October 27, 2007 @ 7:13 am
[...] Sobhany, a blogger at Allfacebook, a blog that follows developments on the social networking site, blogged: “I never would have thought that in just over a week, 1 million Gen Y’ers would be [...]

Pingback by Candidate Colbert gains 1 million Facebook supporters : Blabberwocky — October 27, 2007 @ 9:06 am
[...] [via] [...]

Pingback by Main Blog Iphone » Blog Archive » Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members — October 27, 2007 @ 9:38 am
[...] a Facebook application supporting Stephen Colbert can get 1 million members in nine days, then perhaps Save An Alien, an Israeli Facebook-only startup, can reach their [...]

Pingback by Do The Right Thing: Save An Alien (and this startup) at Geekstr — October 27, 2007 @ 10:09 am
Thats really awesome but what can such a group offer? What is the fun?

Comment by Smiley — October 27, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
[...] [via] [...]

Pingback by Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members at Geekstr — October 27, 2007 @ 10:50 pm
[...] a Facebook application supporting Stephen Colbert can get 1 million members in nine days, then perhaps The new game Save An Alien, an Israeli Facebook-only startup, [...]

Pingback by TECHINSTICTS-instincts for the techies… » SAVE AN ALIEN NEXT UBER COOLEST THING :D — October 28, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Joining a group on Facebook doesn't mean we support anything. It means we like a good joke, and will take 2 seconds to confirm our membership to a group we'll never look at after a day or so. It's ridiculous to assume that joining a group actually means a vote of support.There's a big difference between the action required to help a campaign and the superfluous nature of political Facebook groups.

Comment by Zac Echola — October 28, 2007 @ 6:54 pm
Joining a group on Facebook doesn't mean we support anything. It means we like a good joke, and will take 2 seconds to confirm our membership to a group we'll never look at after a day or so. It's ridiculous to assume that joining a group actually means a vote of support.

There's a big difference between the action required to help a campaign and the superfluous nature of political Facebook groups.

Comment by Zac Echola — October 28, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
It would be nice if you actually linked to that group…

Comment by Guk — October 29, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
It would be nice if you actually linked to that group…

Comment by Guk — October 29, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Btw, the group has registered over 4,000 Facebook users in a span of six days (actually, up to 5,100 now): http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/30/172215/51

Comment by Chris Kennedy — October 31, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Btw, the group has registered over 4,000 Facebook users in a span of six days (actually, up to 5,100 now): http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/30/172215/51

Comment by Chris Kennedy — October 31, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
…

â€ If you work hard on your job, you could make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you could make a fortune. Your income is primarily determined by your philosophy, not the economy. Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive perso…

Trackback by Anonymous — September 1, 2008 @ 4:12 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Hey Nick – while I agree it is impressive I also think the underlining support for the cause was secondary to the excitement of reaching the goal. I joined at the 989,976 point last night and then watch as the wall postings flashed by. I was actually kinda fun to see how many people wanted an add or a poke or declared their luv for Raj, (I will admit to wasting an hour hitting refresh). For me as a Gen-X Canadian it was about looking at the power of a network and feeling of being connected through a common thread. As for the 989,975 before me well they may have had a more serious reason – for me it was because it was Colbert – and because it was neat.Hope the west coast is treating you well.Cheers – Eric

Comment by E Dewhirst — October 26, 2007 @ 3:16 am

Hope the west coast is treating you well.

Cheers – Eric

Comment by E Dewhirst — October 26, 2007 @ 4:16 am

[...] [via] Link to This Post: [...]

Pingback by Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has Million Members — October 26, 2007 @ 7:14 am

Unfortunately, joining Facebook groups is just about all you can get this demo to do.

Comment by Charlie — October 27, 2007 @ 3:13 am

[...] [via] [...]

Pingback by redopinion.com » Blog Archive » Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members — October 27, 2007 @ 6:33 am

[...] a Facebook application supporting Stephen Colbert can get 1 million members in nine days, then perhaps Save An Alien, an Israeli Facebook-only startup, can reach their [...]

Pingback by Do The Right Thing: Save An Alien (and this startup) — October 27, 2007 @ 7:23 am

Comment by Charlie — October 27, 2007 @ 7:13 am

[...] Sobhany, a blogger at Allfacebook, a blog that follows developments on the social networking site, blogged: “I never would have thought that in just over a week, 1 million Gen Y’ers would be [...]

Pingback by Candidate Colbert gains 1 million Facebook supporters : Blabberwocky — October 27, 2007 @ 9:06 am

Pingback by Main Blog Iphone » Blog Archive » Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members — October 27, 2007 @ 9:38 am

Pingback by Do The Right Thing: Save An Alien (and this startup) at Geekstr — October 27, 2007 @ 10:09 am

Thats really awesome but what can such a group offer? What is the fun?

Comment by Smiley — October 27, 2007 @ 1:12 pm

Pingback by Fastest Growing Facebook Group Now Has A Million Members at Geekstr — October 27, 2007 @ 10:50 pm

[...] a Facebook application supporting Stephen Colbert can get 1 million members in nine days, then perhaps The new game Save An Alien, an Israeli Facebook-only startup, [...]

Pingback by TECHINSTICTS-instincts for the techies… » SAVE AN ALIEN NEXT UBER COOLEST THING :D — October 28, 2007 @ 12:04 pm

Joining a group on Facebook doesn't mean we support anything. It means we like a good joke, and will take 2 seconds to confirm our membership to a group we'll never look at after a day or so. It's ridiculous to assume that joining a group actually means a vote of support.There's a big difference between the action required to help a campaign and the superfluous nature of political Facebook groups.

Comment by Zac Echola — October 28, 2007 @ 6:54 pm

There's a big difference between the action required to help a campaign and the superfluous nature of political Facebook groups.

Comment by Zac Echola — October 28, 2007 @ 7:54 pm

It would be nice if you actually linked to that group…

Comment by Guk — October 29, 2007 @ 12:21 pm

Comment by Guk — October 29, 2007 @ 4:21 pm

Btw, the group has registered over 4,000 Facebook users in a span of six days (actually, up to 5,100 now): http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/30/172215/51

Comment by Chris Kennedy — October 31, 2007 @ 4:08 pm

Comment by Chris Kennedy — October 31, 2007 @ 5:08 pm

…

â€ If you work hard on your job, you could make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you could make a fortune. Your income is primarily determined by your philosophy, not the economy. Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive perso…

Trackback by Anonymous — September 1, 2008 @ 4:12 pm