• by Shankar Gupta , October 10, 2006

When it comes to getting information about politics, Web users say the Internet surpasses all other forms of media, according to a report issued Monday by Burst Media.

Almost 27 percent of Web users said the Internet was the best source of information about a candidate, while 20.5 percent said the same about TV, and around 18 percent preferred newspapers.

For the report, Burst conducted an online survey of 900 likely voters. Four in 10 respondents said they had visited a candidate's Web site this election season, and one-third reported visiting the site of an advocacy group. Of those visitors to political sites, around 65 percent said they visited the sites of groups they knew they didn't support, or thought they might not support.

Burst also found that about 24 percent of respondents had clicked through on a politician or advocacy group's political ad. Of that group, two-thirds went on to read additional information about the candidate or group's position on issues, around 47 percent sent an e-mail to the candidate, nearly 40 percent signed up for e-mail alerts, and nearly 18 percent donated.

Of those who clicked on an advocacy group's ad, nearly 70 percent read more about the group, around 46 percent signed an online petition, 19 percent signed up to be a member, around 18 percent made a donation, and nearly 14 percent signed up to volunteer.