Web use in 2008 political campaigns shattering records in U.S.

Computerworld - Fueled by increased viewing of online political videos and the use of social networks to gather campaign data and online donations for candidates, use of the Internet in this year's election cycle is shattering records, according to a study released this week (download PDF).

A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the Internet, e-mail or cell phone text messaging to get news about a campaign or to share their views, according to the "The Internet and the 2008 Election" report compiled by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. So far, according to the report, supporters of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are using online tools for election matters more often that those of rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

At this point in the 2004 election cycle, 31% of Americans had used the Internet to get political news and information. The report noted that the difference between the elections is more than the total number of Americans who used the Internet during the entire 2004 campaign for political information, according to Pew Internet & American Life. "Moreover, the proportion of Americans getting political news and information on any given day in the spring of 2008 has more than doubled compared with a similar period in 2004," the report said.

After the 2004 race, for example, 13% of adults said they had watched an online video of any kind about the campaign or election. This year, 35% of the 2,200-plus Internet users surveyed reported that they watched an online political video.

At this point in the current campaign, 8% of Internet users have donated money to a candidate online; only 3% of Internet users said they had done this when asked in the fall of 2006. In addition, 10% of users said they have used a social network such as Facebook or MySpace.com to gather political information or to become involved with a campaign.

Among younger votes, two-thirds of Internet users younger than 30 have a social networking profile, and half of those said they use social networks to get or share political information, the report said.

Further, 39% of Americans online have used the Internet to access "unfiltered" campaign materials like video of candidate debates, speeches and announcements or candidate position papers. The study also found a significant growth of user-generated content in comparison with the first time Pew asked this type of question in the 2006 midterm elections.

For example:

• 11% of Americans have forwarded or posted someone else's commentary about a political race.
• 5% have posted original commentary or analysis.
• 6% have donated money to a candidate or party online.
• 12% of 18-to-29-year-olds online have posted their own political commentary or writing to an online newsgroup, Web site or blog.