WASHINGTON–Some 77% of online Americans have used the Internet in connection with the war in Iraq.

They are going online to get information about the war, to learn and share differing opinions about the conflict, to send and receive emails about events, to express their views and to offer prayers. In addition, a smaller portion of Internet users are using email to mobilize others and gain support for their views about the conflict.

In all, 55% of the nation’s 116 million adult Internet users have used email in one way or another to communicate or learn about the war and 56% have used the Web to get news, general information, and commentary on countless Web sites that have war related material and argument.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys in the days just before the war began and right after hostilities were launched show record-breaking numbers of wired Americans were getting news online. For the first time in the Project’s research, we are seeing that more than half of those online on any given day are getting news on the Web.

War opponents and supporters are going online for different purposes and with different results during the early days of the conflict. They also have diverging views about the role the Internet is playing in their lives. As a rule, war opponents use email and the Web for a variety of purposes and they are more appreciative of the benefits of the Internet use than those who support the war. War opponents are more politically active online, more anxious to discuss the war, and more likely to seek out a variety of sources of information about the war. War opponents are more likely than war supporters to say that their use of the Internet has helped to shape their views about the war, has helped them stay abreast of events, and has helped them share their views with others.

The results of the survey work are reported in a new report entitled, “The Internet and the Iraq war.” Among other things, the report shows: