ABSTRACT
During the race for the presidency in 2007–2008, one of the editors of this book, based on a November 2010 special issue of Mass Communication & Society, spent a month reading Barack Obama’ s official campaign MySpace page (Perlmutter, 2008). Its most notable feature was the posting of comments by thousands of people, not all of them supporters of the Illinois senator's bid for the White House. One of the most striking characteristics of at least some of the comments, which included text and a signature picture file representing the commenter, was their prurient, non-sequitur, and sometimes zany content. One commenter, presumably a young lady, employed a picture of a naked, buttocks-forward, and undulating woman accompanied by text passionately declaring her loyalty to the campaign. Others had cartoon figures in semidress and possible sexual distress; still more included creepy “wanted poster” images and accusations.
