PewInternet.org The new landscape for civics and politics (especially in mobile) Voting Information Technology Summit - GeekNetNYC December 1, 2011 Lee Rainie: Director, Pew Internet Project
Three digital revolutions and their effects on civic and political life
Digital Revolution 1 Internet (78%) and Broadband at home (62%) 65% 62%
Networked creators among internet users (two-thirds of adults; three-quarters of teens) 65% are social networking site users 55% share photos 37% contribute rankings and ratings 33% create content tags 30% share personal creations 26% post comments on sites and blogs 15% have personal website 15% are content remixers 14% are bloggers 13% use Twitter 6% location services – 9% allow location awareness from social media – 23% maps etc.
Digital Revolution 2 Social networking – 50% of all adults
SNS and the social/civic world Social media users more tied to civic groups and their internet use bonds them more deeply to group activities Social media users for politics/civics are more socio-economically diverse !!! Facebook users more politically engaged – Political participation, voting, mobilizing friends Facebook users more trusting Facebook users have more close relationships Facebook users get more social support MySpace users more open to opposing views
2008 vs in social media politics 7 Internet and Politics 2008: “Hey Dad, look at my profile on BarackObama.com” 2010: “Son, I need you to get off the computer so I can check for Facebook updates from the Tea Party Patriots”
How voters used social networking sites and Twitter in /9/20118 Internet and Politics 35% of social networking site users (21% of online adults) used these sites for political reasons in 2010 – Discover who friends voted for (18%) – Get campaign/candidate info (14%) – Post content related to campaign (13%) – Friend a candidate or other political group (11%) – Join a political group or cause (10%) – Start their own political group or cause (2%) 28% of Twitter users (2% of online adults) used Twitter politically in 2010 – Get candidate/campaign info (16%) – Follow election results in real time (12%) – Follow a candidate or other political group (11%) – Include links to political content in their own tweets (9%)
Social media = “Faster and More Connected” 9 On the team Insider info Truthiness
Digital Revolution 3 Mobile – 84% Total U.S. population: million
35% own “smartphones”
Mobile internet connectors – 63% adults
The emergence of mobile politics in 2010
26% of adults used cell phones for political purposes in /9/ Internet and Politics
Mobile politics - 26% of adults used cell phones for political purposes in /9/ Internet and Politics 14% used their cell phones to tell others that they voted 12% used their cell phones to keep up with political news 10% sent text messages relating to the election 6% used their cells to let others know about conditions at their local voting stations on election day 4% used their phones to monitor results on election night 3% used their cells to shoot/share photos/videos about election 1% used a cell-phone app that provided updates about election news 1% contributed money by text message
No clear partisan splits—age is the defining difference in mobile political use 17 Internet and Politics
Landscape change - 1 The contours of civic space for groups
Landscape change - 2 The contours of civic information
What’s ahead in mobile
Expectation for … value of … real-time info and just-in-time search
Tablet mania: Semi-post PC world
Deeper integration of mobile and social – sharing/mindcasting/life logging
Next social apps: Free texting, instant messaging, video calling
Search for pix, videos: Facial, object, landscape recognition
Voice interface
Mobile device as wallet and authenticator (NFC)
Rise of location services and context awareness Fodor’s Personal Vacation Assistant
Augmented reality: Packing info into real-world experiences
Big data: Feedback and analytics
Gamification
Questions to ponder: How do you account for and address… Digital and civic divides? (the early adopter problem) Different audiences and needs on different platforms? Differing attention spans? Your “close-up” moments? Privacy concerns and data breaches?
Your map is wrong !!!
Thank you!