Barack Obama (L) and John McCain smile during the third presidential debate in 2008.

More than half of US adults used the Web to engage in the US presidential election and supporters of Barack Obama were considerably¹ more active online than those of John McCain, according to a study released on Wednesday.

"The 2008 election was the first in which more than half the voting-age population used the Internet for political purposes," said the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, which conducted the study.

Fifty-five percent of all voting-age US adults -- and 74 percent of all Internet users -- said they went online for news and information about the election or to communicate with others about the race, the study found.

The percentage of Americans relying on the Web as a major source of campaign news more than doubled over the 2000 election -- from 11 percent to 26 percent, Pew said.

Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and video-sharing sites like YouTube played a key role, it said, as voters went online to share their views and try to mobilize others to their cause.

"Voters in 2008 were not just passive followers² of the political process," said Aaron Smith, a research specialist at Pew and author of the report.

"They used a wide range of digital tools and technologies to get involved in the race, to harness their creativity in support of their chosen candidate, and to join forces with others who shared their same political goals."

While more Americans went online for political purposes than ever before, supporters of Democratic candidate Obama were more active on the Internet than those of his Republican rival McCain, the study found.

Twenty percent of Obama supporters shared political content online, compared with 16 percent of McCain backers, and 18 percent of Obama partisans³ signed up to receive automatic updates about the election compared with nine percent of McCain supporters.

Obama supporters were much more likely to contribute money online, with 15 percent of Obama supporters saying they did so compared with only six percent of McCain backers.

"The 2008 elections saw the role of the Internet in politics increase and it witnessed the emergence⁴ of a unique group of online political activists," said Smith.

"Compared with other Internet users, these individuals delve⁵ more deeply into the political news of the day, and take part in a much wider range of online political activities."

The study was based on a survey of 2,254 adults conducted between November 20 and December 4. It has a margin⁶ of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

本周三公布的一项调查显示，半数以上的美国成年人通过网络参与了去年的总统大选，而且巴拉克• 奥巴马的支持者比约翰•麦凯恩的支持者在网上活跃得多。

皮尤研究中心“网络与美国生活”项目组开展了此项调查，他们称：“在2008年的总统大选中，我们首次发现半数以上的选民为了政治目的而上网。”

调查结果显示，55%的美国成年选民以及74%的网民称，他们上网获取选举新闻和信息，或者与其他人就总统选举进行交流。

皮尤研究中心称，在2000年总统大选中，主要依靠网络获取大选信息的美国人占11%，而在2008年这一比例已经翻了一倍多，达到26%。

研究发现，Facebook和MySpace等社交网站，以及YouTube等视频分享网站在竞选中也起到重要作用，选民上网与他人交流，并鼓动他人改变立场。

皮尤研究中心专家及研究报告作者亚伦•史密斯说：“在2008年大选中，选民不再只是被动地参与政治进程。”

“他们利用多种信息设备和技术参与竞选，充分发挥创造力声援自己的候选人，并与政治目标一致的人联合起来。”

研究发现，虽然同以往相比，有更多的美国人上网是出于政治目的，但民主党候选人奥巴马的支持者要比他的竞争对手共和党人麦凯恩的支持者更为活跃。

奥巴马的支持者中有20%在网上分享政治消息，还有18%登记接收竞选新闻的自动更新，而麦凯恩的支持者中这个比例分别为16%和9%。

奥巴马的支持者也更乐于在网上捐款，其中15%称自己曾经捐款，而麦凯恩的支持者捐款率仅为6%。

史密斯说：“在2008年总统竞选中，网络扮演了更为重要的角色，我们也见证了网络政治活跃分子这一独特群体的崛起。”

“与其他网民相比，这些人每天更关注政治新闻，参加的在线政治活动范围也更大。”

共有2254名成年人参与了去年11月20日至12月4日间开展的此项调查，误差幅度在正负2%以内。

Vocabulary:

mobilize：to marshal, bring together, prepare (power, force, wealth, etc.) for action,（动员）

join forces with：联合

margin of error：误差幅度