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Using the internet for election news: Control, control, control

Compared with data gathered after the most recent mid-term election in 2002, the percentage of Americans who reported they went to the internet for most of their political news in 2006 more than doubled, from 7% to 15%, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

During the same time period, the percentage of those getting their political input from TV and newspapers remained essentially static, increasing from 66% to 69% for TV, and from 33% to 34% for newspapers.

Commenting on why they prefer to go online for their campaign and election news, internet users’ dominant message was about control. They valued control over all the features of internet use that make it convenient: time, place, speed, and access to content of their choosing. Here are some of the ways internet users described what they liked about the internet’s convenience factors. “You can find what you want when you want.” “I get to choose my sources.” “I can do a search.” “I can go wherever I want.” “Instant access.” “Easier to access. Update quicker.” “I like being the editor of information.” Two of these convenience factors particularly profit users with a fast internet connection, the benefits of which are now commonly accepted to be not only speed, but having a connection that is “always on”. The Pew Internet Project report noted that internet users with broadband connections were more likely to have gotten most of their election news from the internet than those with dial-up connections. The report estimated that about one third of the increase in use of the internet as an election news source over the last 4 years was due directly to growth in broadband adoption. Many internet users offered comments that gave voice to the numbers: “I’m always on the computer.” “The internet is there when you need it.” “Information on demand.” “On it all day. “More readily available.” Comments once again resonated with data from the Pew Research Center general news consumption survey. Asked what sets the internet apart from other media for news consumption, 60% of internet news consumers pointed to usability factors -- accessibility, convenience, easy to navigate, etc. This percentage was much higher than the 46% of newspaper readers who said the same for newspapers, or the 37% of TV news viewers who said the same about TV. Immeasurable online content An ongoing and incomparable online phenomenon is the stupendous increase in the content accessible on the worldwide web. Many internet users acknowledged this as a reason for turning to the Web for political news coverage. According to the Pew Internet Project report, 60% of internet news consumers went to the mainstream media sources of major papers or broadcast institutions. However, a “long tail”2 of other information sources is unique to the internet, and users are discovering it. The report notes that of those who said they got most of their political news online, 20% said they visit online journals or blogs; 20% visit international news organizations; 28% visit state or local government websites, 24% visit issue-oriented websites; 19% visit news satire websites; and 10% visit alternative news sites. Here are typical comments on the variety of information available: “Sites I want to look at.” “Selectivity.” “Unfiltered; I can go directly to the source.” “Myspace blogs.” “Consolidated reports and link pages.” “Interactive; I can follow up on something I’ve read or that has caught my eye.” “You get a little bit of everything. As much detail as you want.”

Feb 06, 2007 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)

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