Pew Research Center » Politics Online

Civic Engagement in the Digital Age

Pew Research Center — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:55:18 +0000

The well-educated and the well-off are more likely than others to participate in civic life online – just as they have always been more likely to be active in politics and community affairs offline.

Infographic: The Rise of Digital Politics: Social Media, Mobile Devices and the Campaign

Pew Research Center — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:27:44 +0000

The growth of social media and rapid adoption of internet-enable mobile devices have changed the way Americans engage in the political process. An infographic provides a summary of the latest data from national surveys taken during the 2012 campaign.

One-in-Five Registered Voters Talk About How They Voted on Social Media

Pew Research Center — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:42:03 +0000

Fully 22% of registered voters have told others how they voted on a social networking site, while 30% have been encouraged to vote for a candidate by family and friends and 20% have encouraged others to vote.

Over Half of Registered Voters Have Watched Political Videos Online

Pew Research Center — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:17:43 +0000

Some 66% of registered voters who use the internet—55% of all registered voters—have gone online this election season to watch videos related to the election campaign or political issues.

Internet Gains Most as Campaign News Source, But Cable TV Still Leads

Pew Research Center — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:49:18 +0000

Americans are following the presidential campaign more closely on nearly every news platform than they were earlier in the year.

4-in-10 Adults Use Social Networking to Engage in Political or Civil Activities

Pew Research Center — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:35:43 +0000

The use of social media is becoming a feature of political and civic engagement for many Americans. A new report examines who is more likely to use social media to express their views, react to others' postings, follow candidates and 'like' and share others' content.

Many Voters Use Cell Phones to Follow Election, Participate in Politics

Pew Research Center — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:57:17 +0000

As of late September, 88% of registered voters own a cell phone of some kind-and significant numbers of these voters are using their mobile devices to get information about the 2012 election, to interact with the campaigns, and to converse with other voters about political issues:

27% of registered voters who own a cell phone have used their phone in this election campaign to keep up with news related to the election itself or to political issues in general.

Three quarters of these cell-owning registered voters use their phone to send or receive text messages, and within this group:

19% have sent text messages related to the campaign to friends, family members, or others
5% have signed up to receive text messages directly from a candidate or other group involved in the campaign
5% say that they have received unwanted election-related text messages that they did not sign up to receive

Smartphone owners are using their mobile devices as a tool for political participation on social networking sites and as a way to fact check campaign statements in real time. Roughly half (48%) of registered voters who own a cell phone say that they have a smartphone, and within this group:

45% have used their smartphone to read other people’s comments on a social networking site about a candidate or the campaign in general
35% have used their smartphone during this election campaign to look up whether something they just heard about a candidate or the campaign in general was true or not
18% have used their smartphone to post their own comments on a social networking site about a candidate or the campaign in general

Social Media Debate Sentiment Less Critical of Obama than Polls and Press Are

Pew Research Center — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:18:08 +0000

Social media came to a much different initial verdict about the first presidential debate than did the early polls and the conventional press, according to an analysis of the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and blogs by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

How Political Media Narratives Differ on Social and Traditional Media

Pew Research Center — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As the candidates for president reintroduced themselves at their conventions and began the last phase of the campaign, they received markedly different treatment in social media than in the mainstream press, a new study finds.

The conversation on Twitter, blogs and Facebook about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama during this key period changed little with events — even during the two candidates’ own nominating conventions. The conversation in all of these platforms was also consistently negative, according to the study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

In the mainstream media, by contrast, both Romney and Obama received a version of the traditional convention bounce, with coverage about them becoming more positive during the week of their party’s nationally televised gathering.

The media portrait of this key month in the campaign is consistent with what PEJ has seen in social media throughout the campaign. Whether it would prove true in other campaigns cannot be known. But the differences raise a question about whether social media may make what Americans hear about politics more negative and may make it harder for political actors, particularly those trailing in the polls, to alter the media narrative.

Social Media’s Influence on Politics

Pew Research Center — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Some but not most users of social networking sites say the sites are important for a variety of political activities:

• 36% of SNS users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to them in keeping up with political news.
• 26% of SNS users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to them in recruiting people to get involved in political issues that matter to them.
• 25% of SNS users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to them for debating or discussing political issues with others.
• 25% of SNS users say the sites are “very important” or “somewhat important” to them in finding other people who share their views about important political issues.
In each activity, Democrats who use social networking sites are more likely than Republicans or independents to say the sites are important.