…so their survey must be horribly wrong.
By Brian Faler
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, February 9, 2004; Page A05
Freaks? Geeks? Or trendsetters?
The question of who, exactly, has been frequenting candidate Web sites, online political discussion groups and campaign blogs this election season has left many observers scratching their heads. Some have said they are, mostly, college students. Or aging ex-hippies. Or tech geeks.
But a new survey, one of the first systematic looks at these otherwise faceless "netizens," suggests that they tend to be white, well-educated and, disproportionately, opinion leaders in their social circles.
The study, which was conducted by George Washington University, the polling firm RoperASW and Nielsen/Net Ratings, found that 69 percent of those queried -- those researchers considered to be "online political citizens" -- qualify as "influentials," the sort of people who have an outsized influence on what their friends and colleagues think about everything from political candidates to restaurants. By comparison, the study said, 10 percent of the general population qualifies as influential.