FLASHBACK: "MySpace Nation - Heroes of Social Networking" in PC World Magazine (2006 Joe Ford Jr. Political Campaign for U.S. Congress)

They always used to tell me that everyone gets their fifteen (15) minutes of fame in life. If my life ended tomorrow, then my fifteen (15) minutes of fame was back in June, 2006 when I ran for U.S. Congress and was featured in a national magazine. As a computer science major in college, recognition in a computer magazine was extra special.

I wanted to link to this PCMag.com (formerly "PC World Magazine") article "MySpace Nation - Heroes of Social Networking" where I was featured as being one of the first politicians to have a political social networking page. I recall that many people criticized me saying that it was not professional to have a MySpace.com page.

Joe Ford, Jr., is trying to get to Washington via MySpace. Along with traditional campaign methods, the lawyer has set up a MySpace page instead of creating an official campaign Web site. The advantages of this approach, Ford says, are the cost savings and direct access to his target voters, people ages 18 to 35. "People that age aren't as interested in the traditional Web site," he says.

My MySpace.com page has been updated and changed since 2006, but most of the information in the archives remain. I have to thank my campaign manager Justin Ford for agreeing to this "radical" strategy back in 2006 as evidenced by this WMC-TV Memphis story called "Willie Herenton in Cyberspace." There used to be a video, but it is no longer accessible.

Justin Ford is a member of the MySpace Generation. His brother has set up a legitimate MySpace page for his campaign.

"It talks about key issues that we think fit the age demographic of 18-25," the younger Ford says.

Source: PCMag.com - "MySpace Nation - Heroes of Social Networking" ; WMC-TV