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Internet Played Bigger Role in U.S. Politics in '04

Schweddy

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Source: ClickZ

Roughly 75 million Americans used the Internet to connect to politics in 2004. They sought election news, exchanged political e-mail, made campaign contributions and blogged, according to a post-election study conducted by The Pew Internet & American Life Project. This figure equals roughly 37 percent of the adult population, and 61 percent of American Internet users.


The number of online political news consumers, meanwhile, increased dramatically compared to 2000, growing from 18 percent of the U.S. population in 2000 to 29 percent in 2004.

"The last election was a breakout for the Internet," said Lee Rainie, director of The Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Every aspect of online politics grew quantitatively and many were wholly new, from the flood of online campaign contributions to the rise of bloggers, from Meetups to streaming JibJab."

The study, which surveyed 2,200 American adults between November 4 and November 22, found 52 percent of Internet users, or approximately 63 million people, went online to get news or information about the 2004 elections. Pew also found the number of people who turned to the Internet as their primary source of presidential election news increased from 11 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2004. "The biggest thing is that the Internet became a much more important force in the election last year, compared to earlier elections in 2000 and 1996," Rainie said.

No mention of forums? :(

These numbers will be dramtically higher in '08. IMO.
 
The thing I see about this is it seems to lead to people just hearing more of what they want to hear. The Internet seems to be a great place for rumors and conspiracy theories. Everything from UFOs to WMD's through the desert in the middle of night to war for oil motives. Whatever your heart and mind wants to hear you can find someone else on the Internet to parrot those thoughts back at you.
 
It would be a boring world if we all thought alike, or could be brainwashed to believe only one side. I think it is going to bring accountability back to the news. Bloggers brought Dan Rathers down finally. I am surprised also that forums weren't mentioned. I think they are instrumental in finding different stories and opinions. People from all over the world are involved, and it is such an exciting time in our history. I wish I was younger, so I could be here in 50 years to see what our politics will be like.
 
I am suprised as you are, from the forums I have been on, some of them had over 22000 members and all of them seemed to have some interesting opinions...
 
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