MySpace, the Huffington Post and the Politico are going to be some of the new players at the coronation of Barack Obama next week.

From the Globe and Mail column of Richard Siklos:

MySpace, which was a tiny year-old startup at the time of the last convention, now claims that roughly one in four Americans are registered users. It plans a series of events surrounding the convention, some of which will be held at MySpace Cafes where people can get online and update their sites, spy celebrities and other VIPs and even peruse an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Having recently built up a political "channel" on MySpace called Impact, the News Corp.-owned social network also held a contest with NBC News to elect a "citizen journalist" to cover the event.

There will also be a requisite MySpace-sponsored concert, featuring the rapper Nelly. ...

Lee Brenner, MySpace's 31-year-old producer of political programming and a former producer at CNN, said the role of social networks and blogs during the election race is different than more traditional outlets because it is about getting its users to participate. "We're trying to democratize democracy," he told me on the phone from Denver. "We're not trying to just give information." ...

Politico, backed by TV and newspaper owner Albritton Communications, was launched at the start of 2007 after luring Mr. Harris and his colleague Jim VandeHei away from long careers covering politics at The Washington Post.

In terms of how the online paper will differentiate itself within the media maw in Denver, Mr. Harris said that should not pose a problem. "Our readers are like us and they have a political screw loose," he said. "Quite unselfconsciously, we write for junkies." ...

Ms. Huffington herself will be making the rounds, doing political panels and signing copies of her latest book, Right is Wrong, but she will also be using the venue to promote the softer side of her site. Perhaps envisioning a post-election time when people will be interested in things beside politics, Ms. Huffington is using the occasion to play up her site's new "living" section.

At The Huffington Post Oasis, right next to Google's Big Tent, attendees are invited to "unplug and recharge" and treat themselves to yoga sessions, massages and mini-facials. "All our team is going to be there," Ms. Huffington says. "But part of what we wanted to do is present the Huffington Post as being more than politics."