This document presents some of the initial high-level findings of a new study assessing the influence of online video and other social media applications on Americans' political engagement. The study was conducted by Compete and sponsored by Cisco. Many eligible American voters are using video, social networking, and collaborative applications to follow the 2008 U.S. presidential election, shape their opinions, and express their views on current issues and events. This survey was designed to gain a better understanding of how registered U.S. voters are using online technologies and their impact on the political decision-making process.
October 28, 2008
Executive Summary
(Total number of respondents = 1,832 registered U.S. voters)
The Internet (via computer) was identified by 62 percent of respondents as a regularly used source for 2008 presidential election information, and was surpassed only by television (82 percent). Other sources were selected as follows: newspaper/magazine (49 percent), radio (30 percent), cell phone/mobile device (4 percent).
About 30 percent of registered voters reported using online video for following 2008 presidential election coverage. And 75 percent of these online video users felt that watching video online enabled them to follow presidential election news and events more closely.
Democrats and Republicans exhibit different online behaviors - Democrats are more likely to use traditional news sites and social networking sites to find video content; Republicans tend to use search engines more than Democrats to find online video content.
The following pages provide some additional detail and summary data for some of the questions that were included in the Cisco VNI Pulse Survey (conducted by Compete).
Q. You previously indicated that you watched streaming video and/or video clips about the candidates, campaigns, and election news on the computer/Internet. How did you learn about and find these videos?
(Percentage of respondents who indicated they used the following resource to find online videos, Multi-select, September 2008)
Online video users appear more engaged in the 2008 presidential election compared to their non-online video user counterparts; 62 percent of online video users, as opposed to 37 percent of non-online video users, follow the presidential election closely; 68 percent of online video users, as opposed to only 47 percent of non-online video users, followed both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
Q. How closely are you following the coming 2008 presidential election?
(Asked of all respondents, September 2008)
Q. Did you follow the Democratic or Republican National Convention information and coverage this year?
(Asked of all respondents, September 2008)
Online video users appear to be younger compared to their non-online video viewing counterparts. No significant differences exist by gender or income.
Q. Self-reported demographics by online video usage
(Asked of all respondents, September 2008)
Several questions from the Ciscos VNI Pulse Survey (conducted by Compete) mirrored questions that have been traditionally posed in PEW research polls. The following responses indicate that online video users are more politically engaged then non-video users.
Q. PEW research question responses regarding the coming 2008 presidential election
(Asked of all respondents, September 2008)
Democrats tend to be more engaged in 2008 politics than Republicans
Q. PEW research question responses regarding the coming 2008 presidential election
