Kids These Days: Politics Has Gone Mobile

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a new study, “Politics goes mobile.”

Among other findings, mobile phone users voted more often than others, those votes were equally balanced between Republican and Democrat and young users were more often to use their mobile phones for political goals than others. Overall, 82% of American adults own a mobile and a quarter use them to connect politically, according to Pew.

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“Mobile connectivity has become a growing feature in all kinds of communication and information exchanges–including politics–and mobile connectivity is becoming a regular feature of political campaigns.”

71% of mobile phone owners say they voted in the 2010 election, compared with 64% of the greater adult population. 44% said they voted Democrat, 44% Republican, 2% other and 10% either didn’t answer or said they didn’t know.

Among other conclusions of the study are these.

• 14% of all American adults used their cell phones to tell others that they had voted.
• 12% of adults used their cell phones to keep up with news about the election or politics.
• 10% of adults sent text messages relating to the election to friends, family members and others.
• 6% of adults used their cells to let others know about conditions at their local voting stations on election day, including insights about delays, long lines, low turnout, or other issues.
• 4% of adults used their phones to monitor results of the election as they occurred.
• 3% of adults used their cells to shoot and share photos or videos related to the election.
• 1% of adults used a cell-phone app that provided updates from a candidate or group about election news.
• 1% of adults contributed money by text message to a candidate or group connected to the election like a party or interest group.

Since this was the first survey of mobile use in politics during a mid-term election, Pew has no prior data to compare, but the youth of political mobile users indicates a likely growth in the importance of mobile communication and campaigning in future elections.

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