Young Online Political Activists

Political participation online is not much different than politics offline. Activities such as emailing a government official, signing an online petition or making a political contribution on the internet are still dominated by those with more education and higher levels of income, with one exception: posting political content using digital tools. This is in part because blogs and social networks remain the domain of younger adults, who tend to be less-affluent and well-educated. Among adults ages 18-29, 37% use blogs or social networking sites as a venue for political or civic involvement, compared with 17% of online 30-49 year-olds, 12% of 50-64 year-olds and 10% of internet users over age 65. Overall, 19% of internet users have posted political content online. The most popular form of participation is posting comments online about a political or social issue (12% of internet users have done this). Writing a personal political blog (4%) or “friending” a political candidate on a social networking site (4%) are less common activities. Read More