Facebook and politics and media spending....

The NY Times (July 7, 2008) profiles Chris Hughes, a 24-year old co-founder of Facebook who now heads the Barack Obama new-media campaign, My.Barack.Obama.com. His final quote in the article is a good summary lesson on using social networking tools, in business, politics, or any context:

“You can have the best technology in the world,” he said, “but if you don’t have a community who wants to use it and who are excited about it, then it has no purpose.”

Also, "Cashing in on Obama and McCain" (July 6, 2008) looks at the money spent on the presidential political campaign - almost $900 million to date (!) - and the businesses that profit from this spending, directly or indirectly.