MTV Digital Game Models a Fantasy Presidential Election

New election game modeled on leagues for fantasy sports

By Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times

Hangovers, breakups, Katy Perry lyrics—millennials are notorious for posting information online that older generations find either too personal or too trivial to share. But there is one topic where young people cry TMI—politics. At least that's what MTV found in a 2011 poll of some of its 15- to 24-year-old viewers, only 36 percent of whom said they would post a political opinion on a social-media site. By contrast, 64 percent said they would share an opinion about a movie, song, or piece of art.

Their reluctance to engage politically online reflects a larger generational ambivalence about government, and one that could reverberate at voting booths in November: Eighteen- to 29-year-olds helped drive Barack Obama to victory in 2008 through record turnouts. According to the U.S. Census, this group made up 17 percent of eligible voters in 2008; it now makes up 24 percent.

Aware of its audience's hesitance to talk politics, MTV has set about crafting a novel way to draw in the demographic this election year. The youth-oriented cable network recently launched MTV Fantasy Election, an online political game modeled...