Inside Facebook

Facebook is becoming politics as usual, and one of the more effective political Pages belongs to San Francisco mayor and California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom. Mayor Newsom’s Page currently has more than 56,000 fans, and there’s a high level of interaction between the mayor’s followers.

Newsom’s Facebook Page includes several several unique features, like a sign up form to become a “Facebook Captain” to “Post Newsom campaign status updates,” “Promote Gavin Newsom to my friends and networks,” “help with fundraising on Facebook,” promote the mayor’s events, and more.

Other tabs allow Facebook fans to donate to Newsom’s campaign, join the mayor’s list of supporters and see upcoming events. There are also several links on each page back to the mayor’s own site.

Most of the posts on the Page’s wall involve information about appearances and issues, and there are always a healthy number of comments for each one. It’s also apparent that the mayor is taking advantage of other tech savvy avenues to reach people, including a recent post on TechCrunch about a new site that offers easier access to San Francisco city data.

While it’s true that Newsom benefits from presiding over one of the most tech savvy cities in the U.S., his Facebook Page is a great example of how a politician can use Facebook to begin building a campaign base and better reach constituents.