The youth of Bermuda now have unprecedented access to the Premier — they can become his Facebook friend.

Dr. Ewart Brown has long said he would like young people to become more involved in politics and on Wednesday he took another step to reach out to them, on their level.

Facebook is an online community popular with the Island’s young people, it was created by a Harvard University student in 2004 and was geared towards college and university students. Since then, as graduates have entered the work force it has extended to young professionals and its popularity is ever growing.

Currently there are over 2,700 people listed in Facebook’s Bermuda network and, within three hours of joining, the Premier already had 30 friends. By yesterday afternoon he had 91.

The Premier told The Royal Gazette he had heard the buzz about Facebook and saw its potential as a communications tool.

“My sons have mentioned the site quite a lot and told me about how young people use it all over the world,” Dr. Brown said. “Many of the students I met while on the university and college tours also talked about the site and how useful it was so I decided to join.

“I think it is a great way to stay in touch with young people, answer their questions and provide them with information.”

He also hoped that by joining the site and interacting with young people he will help increase voter registration.

Several of his new friends have questioned if it is actually the Premier himself on the site — or a press secretary posing as him.

“It’s really me,” he insisted in a phone interview. “I am still figuring it out but I plan to be a lot more participatory than people think. I have already responded to some of the messages.

“I also want to use it to encourage people between the ages of 18 and 30 to register to vote as there is a low level of participation in that age group. I intend to put information up there to let them know how to register and other information.

“I intend to use Facebook to have meaningful exchanges with the youth of Bermuda.” Currently, of the 1,300 18- to 19-year-olds eligible to vote for the first time, only 360 have registered. He would like to see this number climb.

Facebook allows users to stay in contact with people in various networks. For example there are geographical networks, educational networks and professional networks.

So far the Premier is a member of the Bermuda network, though he has listed his education details and informs his friends he obtained an M.D. from Howard University and a Masters in Public Health from the University of California.

Facebook groups are all part of fun of the site and Dr. Brown has jumped on that bandwagon joining a number of Bermuda-themed groups including: “It’s a Bermudian thing... you wouldn’t understand”, “You know you’re a Bermudian when”, “Everyone needs a Bermudian”, “Imma go up Ice Queen and get me some greaze” and the “I appreciate Dame Lois Browne Evans” group.

Some groups are just jokes and fun statements while others are created to spark debate. It will be interesting to see if Dr. Brown participates in the discussions of one of his groups, the “You gotta love Bermudian politics” group.

Daily the 200-plus members, most under the age off 30, discuss topics such as race, education and the environment — with some members being particularly critical of Dr. Brown and his Government.

But not content with just joining groups Dr. Brown also created his own group, “PLP All the Way! All the Way PLP!”.

So far, in just two days, the group has 33 members. The Premier is joining a long list of politicians who have embraced new media in the run up to an election.

Democratic hopeful Barack Obama has a Facebook profile where he informs the youth of America about his weekly appointments and rallies. His is a little more advanced that Dr. Brown’s. He tells his “friends” that he is a fan of musicians Miles Davis and Bob Dylan and his favourite TV show is SportsCentre. Hilary Clinton has one too.

And CNN asked the burning question “Will the 2008 USA election be won on Facebook” on Tuesday. The report stated: “The Internet is now the focus for campaigners, marketers and activists, each claiming a slice of the virtual pie.”

Dr. Brown said he had yet to look at a US politician’s Facebook account but proved that he was willing to extend a friendly virtual handshake when he allowed Opposition Member of Parliament Jon Brunson, who also has an account, to be his friend on Facebook.