Christine Williams and Jeff Gulatir, the two political scientists at Bentley College who have been studying Facebook as a campaign tool, have released an update to their study just in time for the mid-terms.

Since the first numbers for the study were released in late September,

• 45 or 32% of candidates for U.S. Senate have personalized their Facebook profile -- a 7% increase over the 36 candidates who had posted at the end of September.

• 63 or 50% of candidates for Governor have personalized their Facebook profiles -- a 7% increase over the 52 candidates who had posted at the end of September.

• On average, candidates for U.S. Senate experienced a 55% increase in their Facebook supporters; gubernatorial candidates experienced a 48% increase.

• U.S. Senate candidates who posted content on their profile had an average of 2,429 supporters, while those who did not post content had an average of only 429.

• Gubernatorial candidates who posted content on their profile averaged 2,157 supporters, while those who did not post content averaged only 422.

The super-candidates of Facebook are once again Hillary Clinton, with 12,038 supporters (42% more than last month), and Virginia Senator George Allen, with 3,831 supports (52% more than last month). The authors also note that, although they aren't running for office this year, Barack Obama, Evan Bayh, and John Kerry all have active Facebook profiles in anticipation of possible presidential runs. Obama enjoyed a particularly big explosion of the last month, going from 719 to 7,123 supporters.

All of this increased support in Facebook doesn't guarantee a change in the election just yet. Says Gulati,

the real benefits of social networking sites will be felt in the future for those candidates who continue to engage their supporters after the election is over by promoting a genuine sense of community among them.

The study points to a genuine enthusiasm among Facebook users for politics, and Facebook has done an good job at tapping into the political potential of their site. However, as the study's authors note, there needs to be a real politician behind those cute profiles. "What will make social networking sites an effective mobilization tool is whether or not the candidate is willing to demonstrate that a real person exists behind the profile."

Stay tuned for a post-election wrap-up.

Tags: clinton, election, Facebook, kerry, george allen

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