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Use of On-line Sources for Political Information The average on-line user is generally more politically active than the average American. This does not show us whether or not users are using the Internet as part of their political activities or to get political information. While 26 percent of voters in the 1996 presidential election characterized themselves as "frequent Internet users,"12 only a small portion reported getting most of their political news from on-line sources. An October, 1996 Pew Research Center survey reported that three percent of voters relied on the Internet as a primary source of political information, while just under ten percent of voters got any news or information about the election from on-line sources.13
Among Internet users, local newspapers remain the political information source
of choice. Sixty-seven percent of users get political information from local
papers, while television news stations, such as CNN and C-SPAN, and network
news programs each serve as a primary source for about 56 percent of the
on-line population. On-line news outlets were only the fourth most popular
source of political news among regular Internet users, 54 percent of whom used
it as a primary source of information. While over 40 percent of users relied
on off-line conversations for political information, only 9 percent relied
similarly on conversations held over the Internet.14
While the Internet has undergone a great growth, both in popularity and in
amount of information available, it does not seems as if it had a significant
effect on the 1996 election. While users of the Internet were more politically
involved than their off-line counterparts, not enough of them were actually
using the Internet for political reasons to conclude that it had a great
impact. Since Internet users were relying to such a great degree on
traditional media sources, it is difficult to say what, if any, effect the `net
had on the election. However, the Internet is a new and developing phenomenon
which is experiencing exponential growth in all aspects. This includes that
use of the Internet for political information.
While users' responses to political use of the Internet during the 1996
election were not staggering, the did show a movement toward the use of on-line
information. Because the 1996 election cycle is marked the advent of
widespread political information use on the Internet, there is no data
available for its previous usage patterns. However, as general usage of the
Internet continues to increase, pulling users away from other mediums,
political coverage is likely to, at the very least, keep pace with this growth.
Already Internet users are using the World Wide Web instead of the television
on a regular basis. Twenty-seven percent of users use the web instead of
watching television several times a day, and the same number abandon TV for the
Internet several times a week. Only 12 percent of users say they have never
used the web instead of watching television.15 Between June, 1995 and October,
1996, newspaper use among Internet users dropped by eight percent, and
television news use fell two percent.16 Among the general public, use of
television has also declined, while newspapers have seen a slight gain in
popularity. Radio, magazines and on-line news have also become more widely
used among the general public.17
If this trend continues to grow at the current rate, by the November, 2000
election a significant portion of the American electorate will be on-line.
More people will be accessing on-line sources for political information, and
more users will start relying on the Internet for the bulk of their political
information. Time will only tell exactly how the Internet will fit into the
larger political media picture, but all indications are that it will continue
to play a more and more prominent role in the political education of the
American electorate.
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