The Internet and Politics

Supporting the idea that a new political communications era has arrived, Pew Internet and American Life Project's most recent report, "The Internet and Campaign 2010," finds that 56 percent of American adults used the Internet for politics in 2010, and 22 percent used social media networking sites for political purposes during the 2010 election cycle. Considering that voter turnout is often lower than 50 percent, these findings are significant.

Why are they using the internet? According to Pew, Americans appreciate the ability to find like-minded others, and find information in general. Do they still have concerns? Yes. Many Americans worry that the Internet enables extremism, and complain that there is too much information to sift through -- much of which is bad information.

Nevertheless, the study is yet another indicator of the Internet's growing impact on politics.