Pew: Online Political Engagement Can Lead to Offline Activism

Americans are increasingly engaging with political issues on social media — leading some to become civic activists offline, a study from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has found

According to Pew's "Civic Engagement in the Digital Age" study, a full 39% of American adults "took part in some sort of political activity" on a social network during the 2012 elections, whether that meant liking a candidate's Facebook page, posting a political news story, encouraging another user to vote or several other actions. That percentage is up from 26% during the 2008 contest

Pew's study also sheds light on the often-asked question of whether political involvement in the online world translates into offline action: 43% of social media users told Pew they decided to learn more about an issue they first discovered on social media, while 18% took offline action on a political or social issue after reading about it on social media. Read more...