Another interesting tidbit in that Burst Media survey I mentioned earlier today regarding the web's ascendant role as the chief distribution channel for information about politics and candidates in the 2008 election cycle:
According to Burst, 22 percent of likely voters have already visited a 2008 presidential candidate’s website. That doesn't sound like a lot - until you remember that it is nearly a year before the first primaries, and 19 months before the general election. Somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of likely voters are already engaged in the election and looking for info online.
Burst says men are more likely than women to have visited a candidate’s website, 25 percent versus 19 percent.
Another interesting stat: Only about four in 10 survey respondents who said the Internet is the best place to gather election information have visited a candidate’s website - that means six in 10 are gathering information about presidential candidates from websites and online sources the candidates don't control.
Message to candidates: Great campaign websites stuffed with video and blogs and podcasts aren't enough. To engage voters, you have to reach them in the wider - and wilder - world of blogs and YouTube and other social media.
You can fund Burst's current online here - currently, it's the report on the web's role in the presidential campaign, but that will drop into the archives eventually. You can also read or download the same report in a six-page PDF file by clicking here.
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