Politics has moved online

A Pew Internet & American Life Project report from last week confirmed what many of us have already known about politics and the Internet: that the web has quickly become the dominant place where people get their political news and decide to get involved.

"Some 74% of internet users--representing 55% of the entire adult population--went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election. This marks the first time that a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey has found that more than half of the voting-age population used the internet to get involved in the political process during an election year."

This report should finally put to rest the argument that I still hear from organizations – my members just don't really use the Internet. The report found that, "among the entire population the internet is now equal to newspapers and roughly twice as important as radio as a source of election news and information." Even tech-savvy seniors are using the Internet to get political information.

Organizations should determine whether they are allocating internal resources appropriately in this new communications environment. Each organization is different, but your organization should be spending about half of your communication resources online.

That does not mean that organizations should abandon traditional public relations activities like sending out press releases and advertising. Rather, your organization should have a balanced approach between traditional offline tactics and emergent online communication strategies.

Think about these questions:

• Does my website look fresh and up to date?
• How often do I send out e-mails to supporters?
• How well do I engage my members through the Internet?
• Am I using multiple channels to send out messages (e-mail, website, social networking websites, blogs, twitter, etc.)?

 

Are You Mobile?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released a study on the growing number of Americans using mobile internet technology. We all notice this emergent group with the rise of iPhones and Blackberrys. It is clear that this promising arena will be critical to the future success of nonprofits, corporations and political candidates.

The "Mobile Difference" report by Pew defines individuals that use this technology as motivated by mobility. The report states that this group is 39% of the adult U.S. population, having "seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased. For these groups, growth in frequency of online use is linked not only to increasing broadband adoption, but to positive and improving attitudes about how mobile access makes them more available to others."

According to the report, the rest of us do not feel such a draw to the use of mobile technology, for a number of reasons:

• Many still feel content with their current high speed internet connection on desktop
• Many are infrequently online
• Many feel they already receive too much information and prefer traditional communication vehicles
• Indifference to technology
• Some live off the grid - they just don't use the Internet

Here is their breakdown of people that use mobile technology. This information should be helpful in your organization's targeting operation. It can tell organizations how to reach out to different groups and whether they will be receptive to mobile technology.