Should Obama Be Killed? Poll stirs up Controversy on Viral Page Sites Online

Oct. 5, 2009 - PRLog -- It is already common knowledge to know that politics and online social media can be highly volatile when mixed. Anybody who has seen the hoopla of the 2008 presidential election and the fiery debate on health care can attest to that. However, a recent online poll from the viral page and social networking site Facebook may have crossed the line as it is currently under investigation by the US government.

The US Secret Service is currently looking into an online poll hosted on the highly-popular social networking site Facebook that asks readers whether President Barack Obama should be killed. The poll, which was titled “Should Obama Be Killed?” was released on Sept. 26, 2008 and offered multiple choice answers ranging from “yes” to “if he cuts my healthcare”. Talking Points Memo, a political viral page commentary site, reported that nearly 750 users have already voted in the controversial poll before it was taken down. In an official statement made on Sept. 28, Monday, a spokesman for the US Secret Service said they were “aware of it and will take the appropriate investigative steps” and that they “take these things seriously”.

In light of this controversy, Facebook has also tried to distance itself in what could be a terrible public relations issue. Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for the highly popular social networking site, said that the poll was a third-party application created by an individual user and that they are working with the US Secret Service. Facebook also sent press statements to various social and viral page websites that they have already suspended the application.

Currently, it is not known whether or not the “Should Obama be killed” poll will result in further action being made against the developer or the person who created it. However, the situation sheds light on the challenge for Facebook. For a massive social networking platform with over 350,000 applications, it would be next to impossible to monitor and police each and every application or data that is uploaded.

Although the US government’s reaction to the controversy may be considered “overkill” by some, it does hold a significant threat especially since it utilizes the viral spread which computer viruses and viral page marketers use all of the time. Because it is free to use and is very accessible to Facebook users, the “Should Obama Be Killed” online poll can easily spread from one person to another and may even influence those who are radical in thinking. This is especially critical now since Obama is the first African-American president in a country where racial tensions still run high.

But whether the threat posed by the Facebook poll is legitimate or not, it has already made its impact on the online community. Since the news broke-out on various viral page sites all around the web, reactions from people have poured in. Controversial lawyer Jack Thompson, who recently sued Facebook for $40 million, even used the “Should Obama Be Killed” as precedence to his case. More recently, a Facebook poll has appeared asking users whether or not the person who created the controversial Obama poll should be arrested. There is no word, however, if the Secret Service would also investigate this one.

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