MySpace joins race for the White House

MySpace.com plans to hold a virtual US presidential election.

The mock election, to be held 1 and 2 January, will be open to all MySpace users who reside in the US, regardless of voting eligibility in the government-run election in November 2008.

Although the MySpace votes won't count for the official election, results compiled from the News Corp social-networking site's millions of members may help candidates gauge their potential success in real voting booths in 2008. They may also provide an insight into overall public sentiment for the politicians.

MySpace president Tom Anderson said in a statement: "Iowa and New Hampshire may be selecting delegates but the MySpace vote will be the first test of where candidates stand in the election year."

Prior to holding its mock online election, MySpace plans to conduct virtual straw polls of its members. The results of these polls and the virtual primary results will be posted on MySpace's Impact channel.

The channel, launched last month, aims to serve as an online hub for the 2008 elections, housing the MySpace profiles of such presidential candidates as Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.

Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com