2. Politics, News, and how they Spread
Online Query Locations
Email via social sites 53%
Medium Usage Major news sites 49%
Television 95% Email from political 32%
groups
Newspapers 75%
New-aggregation sites 29%
Radio 72%
Video-sharing sites 28%
Internet 65% (youtube)
Magazines 49% Voter-information sites 19%
Political news sites 14%
Survey results based on roughly 200 individuals following 2008 election
3. The Move to the Web
● Doubling in online news usage.
○ 27% in 2004
○ 64% in 2008
● Traditional outlets not losing ground to partisan sites.
● The "two-step flow"
○ News outlets produce informatio
○ Individuals as content filters; opinion leaders
● Important medium for politically active.
4. Revitalizing the Process
● Emailing candidates
● Online petitions
○ Easier, digital signatures
○ Less effective?
● Forums for discussion
○ Greater debate
○ "Substantive exchanges"
● Video as an (emerging?) outlet for discussion.
6. Thoughts, concerns, wrap-up...
● What do you use to bolster your political knowledge?
● A new online candidate selection process. The end of the
entrenched candidates?
○ http://www.americanselect.org/
● Online activism. Where is the line drawn?
○ Wikileaks, Anonymous, LulzSec
● Have you heard of H.R. 1981?
○ Where would you go for further information?
○ What would you do to support? Protest?
7. Citations
● GARRETT, R., & DANZIGER, J. N. (2011). The Internet
Electorate. Communications of the ACM, 54(3), 117-123.
doi:10.1145/1897852.1897881
