Many more election news consumers gravitate to the online addresses of major news organizations and web portals than seek out specialized political sites or the candidates' own sites. Fully one-third of the online population, which itself has grown dramatically over the past four years, got election news from the Internet. The effect of online campaign news has been particularly pronounced among young people. Fully half of online election news consumers under age 30 say the information they received made them want to vote for or against a particular candidate. Controlling for other factors related to participation, Internet users are no more likely to be engaged in the political process, and show no greater propensity to vote than do non-users.
Convenience is the Internet's main appeal as a campaign news source.
The online audience for election news has shown less interest in engaging in other political activities than it has in accessing political information. But the Internet is beginning to affect the way candidates and voters interact. The current poll was conducted as part of a larger effort to track Internet use over time. This pattern was not influenced dramatically by important primary contests in March, nor by the conventions or the fall debates.