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More than half of US adults used the Web to engage in the US presidential election and supporters of Barack Obama were considerably more active online than those of John McCain, according to a study released on Wednesday.
"The 2008 election was the first in which more than half the voting-age population used the Internet for political purposes," said the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, which conducted the study.
Fifty-five percent of all voting-age US adults -- and 74 percent of all Internet users -- said they went online for news and information about the election or to communicate with others about the race, the study found.
The percentage of Americans relying on the Web as a major source of campaign news more than doubled over the 2000 election -- from 11 percent to 26 percent, Pew said.
Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and video-sharing sites like YouTube played a key role, it said, as voters went online to share their views and try to mobilize others to their cause.
"Voters in 2008 were not just passive followers of the political process," said Aaron Smith, a research specialist at Pew and author of the report.
"They used a wide range of digital tools and technologies to get involved in the race, to harness their creativity in support of their chosen candidate, and to join forces with others who shared their same political goals."
While more Americans went online for political purposes than ever before, supporters of Democratic candidate Obama were more active on the Internet than those of his Republican rival McCain, the study found.
Twenty percent of Obama supporters shared political content online, compared with 16 percent of McCain backers, and 18 percent of Obama partisans signed up to receive automatic updates about the election compared with nine percent of McCain supporters.
Obama supporters were much more likely to contribute money online, with 15 percent of Obama supporters saying they did so compared with only six percent of McCain backers.
"The 2008 elections saw the role of the Internet in politics increase and it witnessed the emergence of a unique group of online political activists," said Smith.
"Compared with other Internet users, these individuals delve more deeply into the political news of the day, and take part in a much wider range of online political activities."
The study was based on a survey of 2,254 adults conducted between November 20 and December 4. It has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
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(Agencies) |
本周三公布的一項調(diào)查顯示，半數(shù)以上的美國成年人通過網(wǎng)絡參與了去年的總統(tǒng)大選，而且巴拉克? 奧巴馬的支持者比約翰?麥凱恩的支持者在網(wǎng)上活躍得多。
皮尤研究中心“網(wǎng)絡與美國生活”項目組開展了此項調(diào)查，他們稱：“在2008年的總統(tǒng)大選中，我們首次發(fā)現(xiàn)半數(shù)以上的選民為了政治目的而上網(wǎng)。”
調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，55%的美國成年選民以及74%的網(wǎng)民稱，他們上網(wǎng)獲取選舉新聞和信息，或者與其他人就總統(tǒng)選舉進行交流。
皮尤研究中心稱，在2000年總統(tǒng)大選中，主要依靠網(wǎng)絡獲取大選信息的美國人占11%，而在2008年這一比例已經(jīng)翻了一倍多，達到26%。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，F(xiàn)acebook和MySpace等社交網(wǎng)站，以及YouTube等視頻分享網(wǎng)站在競選中也起到重要作用，選民上網(wǎng)與他人交流，并鼓動他人改變立場。
皮尤研究中心專家及研究報告作者亞倫?史密斯說：“在2008年大選中，選民不再只是被動地參與政治進程。”
“他們利用多種信息設備和技術參與競選，充分發(fā)揮創(chuàng)造力聲援自己的候選人，并與政治目標一致的人聯(lián)合起來。”
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然同以往相比，有更多的美國人上網(wǎng)是出于政治目的，但民主黨候選人奧巴馬的支持者要比他的競爭對手共和黨人麥凱恩的支持者更為活躍。
奧巴馬的支持者中有20%在網(wǎng)上分享政治消息，還有18%登記接收競選新聞的自動更新，而麥凱恩的支持者中這個比例分別為16%和9%。
奧巴馬的支持者也更樂于在網(wǎng)上捐款，其中15%稱自己曾經(jīng)捐款，而麥凱恩的支持者捐款率僅為6%。
史密斯說：“在2008年總統(tǒng)競選中，網(wǎng)絡扮演了更為重要的角色，我們也見證了網(wǎng)絡政治活躍分子這一獨特群體的崛起。”
“與其他網(wǎng)民相比，這些人每天更關注政治新聞，參加的在線政治活動范圍也更大。”
共有2254名成年人參與了去年11月20日至12月4日間開展的此項調(diào)查，誤差幅度在正負2%以內(nèi)。
相關閱讀：
奧巴馬當選 美國迎來變革時代
世界各地慶奧巴馬當選美國總統(tǒng)
羅利市獲評美國大選最活躍城市
（實習生許雅寧，英語點津編輯） |
