Lee Rainie and John Horrigan of the Pew Internet & American Life Project have released a report on a study of the Net’s role in the 2006 elections. Here’s the summary:

Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002.

Some 15% of all American adults say the internet was the place where they got most of their campaign news during the election, up from 7% in the mid-term election of 2002.

A post-election survey shows that the 2006 race also produced a notable class of online political activists. Some 23% of those who used the internet for political purposes – the people we call campaign internet users – actually created or forwarded online original political commentary or politically-related videos.

The full report adds a lot of context to this, of course. For example, 31% of Americans gathered info about the races online and talked about the elections via email. And for those under 36 who have broadband, 35% said the Internet was their main source of information about the races. And Republicans and Democrats were equally likely to rely on the Net for campaign news…

Fascinating study, as we’ve come to expect from Pew. [Tags: politics pew ]

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