User:Gentoo LiLi/sandbox

Active Participation of Adults on the Internet
The majority of governments have a long way to go to actively engage their citizens to participate in e-democracy; however, e-democracy relies upon citizens to take their own initiative to influence decisions that will effect them. Indeed, many adults are now moving online to find political information. In the past few decades, the internet has become increasingly important to the decisions made by adult voters: between 1996 and 2002, the number of adults who reported that the internet was significant in their choices increased from about 14 to 20 percent. In 2002, nearly a quarter of the population reported having visited a website to research specific public policy issues. In addition, people aren’t just going to sites that reflect their own views, but are in fact doing the complete opposite: studies have shown that more people visit websites that challenge their point of view than visit websites that mirror their own opinions. It has also become apparent that as online participation increases, the number of people reading newspapers decreases: since 1996, the number of those who read the news in print has dropped from 50 percent to 39 percent, while 41 percent of the population reports having consumed news online.

In addition, a good number of people are beginning to participate in online activism. Sixteen percent of the population has participated in online political culture by interacting with political websites through joining campaigns, volunteering time, donating money, or participating in polls. According to a survey conducted by Philip N. Howard, almost two-thirds of the adult population in the United States has had some online experience with political news, information, or other content over the past four election cycles. They tend to reference the websites of special interest groups more than the websites of specific elected leaders, political candidates, political parties, nonpartisan groups, and local community groups.