“It’s an easy way to reach young voters,” said MSU graduate student Jessica Vitak, who conducted a study about political engagement on social networking Web sites during the 2008 election season.

“The great thing about social networking sites for candidates is they are really low cost,” she said.

Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder is having the most social networking success so far. The Republican gubernatorial candidate had about 17,071 fans on Facebook as of Wednesday.

“Our first goal was 10,000 Facebook fans,” Snyder spokesman Jake Suski said. “We upped our goal to 20,000. … It’s a very good tool to enable young people to spread the word.”

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, trailed Snyder Wednesday with about 10,895 Facebook fans.

“Mike posts on Facebook and on Twitter himself to let people know what he is doing on the campaign trail and what’s going on with his life and family,” Cox spokesman Nick Deleeuw said.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Republican candidate from Holland, was right behind Cox with about 9,075 Facebook fans. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, a Republican candidate, had about 3,168 Facebook fans, as of Wednesday.

Hoekstra, Cox and Snyder are virtually tied as favorites for the Republican nomination, according to a poll of 600 voters published last month by Inside Michigan Politics and the Marketing Resource Group. Hoekstra and Cox received about 21 percent of voter support and Snyder earned 20 percent. Bouchard earned 10 percent of voter support.

In the race for the Democratic nomination House Speaker Andy Dillon has about 21 percent of voter support and Lansing Mayor Bernero has about 9 percent, according to the same poll.

But the Democratic candidates need to send out a few more friend requests to catch up to their Republican opponents. Bernero had about 2,899 Facebook fans and Dillon had about 939, as of Wednesday evening.

Bernero’s spokesman Jamaine Dickens said everything Bernero does in the future will be reflected in the candidate’s social media network.

“It isn’t necessarily something that is new to him,” Dickens said. “Social networking is something he sees as essential.”

Cliff Lampe, an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media who studies how people use social networking sites, said the impact of networking sites in campaigns is dependent on how candidates use the sites.

“The feeling right now is all candidates need to have social media as a strategy to broadcast their message,” Lampe said. “The way to do it is to make people partners in the election process instead of thinking of them as an audience.”

If gubernatorial candidates want to reach MSU students a more personal approach might be beneficial, said horticulture sophomore Minori Wisti.

“I feel like (students) use sites to get more informed so it depends on how the politicians use Facebook,” she said. “Whatever they do is en masse so it isn’t very personal but it is good to get information.”