- The number of Americans using the internet for news and information has grown nine- or tenfold in the last ten years. 21 mill. haev used political videos (Feb 2007), 75 million used the internet in connection witht he political campaign of 2004.
- Composition of political online population has changed radically – was white, young, male, urban, well-educated; now (in 2006) gender parity, median age grown (1996: 33, in 2006: 39, which is close to the voting population), minorites has double.
- growth in number who say the internet is their primary source or a crucial source for political information.
- Spread of broadband underbuilds this; a third of the growth of use of internet for politics explained by broadband access. New cohort – broadband users under the age of 35 are just as likely to cite hte internet as television 1as television, and the internet is more important than newspapers.
- Convenience important, but also more information available, access to more voices, more in depth information, can contribute information of their own.
- Highly forensic quality to the kinds of searches they’re doing. They like immediacy, check out sources, like the transparency.
- Half of people using internet for political sources say an important reason is they get access to other voices: comedy sites (YouTube, Jon Stewart, The Onion, Colbert), blogs, mailing lists, candidates websites –> a new understnading of what constitutes news. In early years: local perspectives that weren’t available in local media were important. However people talk less about this now. Pew doesn’t know why this is.
- Political videos are incredibly important now as political information. Brand new information (not previously released) 15% of internet population has already accessed political videos, every indication that this number will grow.
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