By Michael Cook

Facebook.com let users know about everything, from birthdays to parties and even when friends break up, but now the social networking site is tackling a new issue, voting.

Rock The Vote and Facebook have teamed up to make voter registration easier than ever to rally young voters.

With Rock the Vote’s target demographic, namely 18 to 30-year-olds, leading the way to becoming a third of the voting population, only one question remains. Will increased registration actually attract young people to cast their ballots?

In an attempt to encourage registration among 18 to 30 year olds, a new Facebook group titled “We will rock the vote: Register Now!” will allow users to change their registration addresses, to spread the news to their friends and, of course, to register.

Facebook’s Election 2006 network, which allows users to express their political views and specific campaign issues, remains the most comprehensive online registering process to date, let alone just for young people.

But an obstacle still remains for Rock The Vote. While some students are encouraged by the opportunity to register online, others feel it will not create an end result.

“I think just because they’ll register to vote on Facebook doesn’t mean they’ll actually vote,” Owen Valentine, a sophomore biochemistry major, said.

In 2004, Rock the Vote registered 1.4 million voters, 1.2 million of them through the Internet.

Facebook, a site with more than 9.5 million registered users, most of whom are in Rock the Vote’s demographic, could quite possibly be the key to the organization’s biggest turnout. Rock the Vote’s Facebook campaign seeks to register about 350,000 students in time for the 2006 election.

“It would definitely promote students to be more politically involved,” Kimberly Cotegiacomo, a sophomore education major, said. “But it would really help if you could actually vote through Facebook.”