• The New York Times , Thursday, March 17, 2011 12:45 PM

During last year's midterm elections, one in five adult Web users turned to social networks to get or share related information, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. But it wasn't just young liberals filling up Facebook.

"During the midterm elections, Republican voters and supporters of the 'Tea Party' movement caught up with Democrats in the use of social networks for political purposes," The New York Times' Media Decoder blog notes. The study also found that 53% of Web users went online to engage in campaign-related activity, including watching political videos, fact checking political claims, and sharing and discussing information. Viewing online political videos in the months leading up to the elections increased to 31% among adult Internet users from 19% in 2006.

Looking ahead, "The survey results underscore the important role that social networks like Twitter and Facebook ... are likely to play in the 2012 presidential campaign." writes Media Decoder, citing comments from Aaron Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Center and author of the report.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »