Odds are that you have heard all about the ideas that social media is a means of political engagement. Well the Pew Research Center has been "studying on the social impact of the internet." They conducted research on the impact of Facebook on the spread of political information. Understanding how the public uses Facebook for political speech can help understand what the future of civic engagement will be. "Here are the key findings in a recent nationally representative survey:
38% of those who use social networking sites (SNS) or Twitter use those social media to “like” or promote material related to politics or social issues that others have posted. Liberal Democrats who use social media are particularly likely to use the ‘like’ button—52% of them have done so and 42% of conservative Republicans have also done so.
35% of social media users have used the tools to encourage people to vote. Democrats who are social media users are more likely to have used social media to encourage voting—42% have done that compared with 36% of Republican social-media users and 31% of independents.
34% of social media users have used the tools to post their own thoughts or comments on political and social issues. Liberal Democrats who use social media (42%) and conservative Republicans (41%) are especially likely to use social media this way."
To see the entire survey and its findings follow this link.
Upon learning this i would like to know what your reactions are to the finding? Do you feel that Facebook and Twitter are the future of civic engagement?
Do you pay attention to the political posts and groups?
