1. Politics & The Internet
Kyle Peterson & Goodwin Pompa
Comm 306

2. Let’s Talk Theory
Social Presence Theory
– Joseph Walters introduced this theory
– This theory suggests that CMC deprives users of senses
that another actual person is involved in their interaction
• Stated in simpler terms: CMC users may be more willing to express
opinions than FTF users

3. Study #1
The Role of Social Presence in Opinion Expression During FTF and CMC Discussions
Juliann Cortese&MihyeSeo
The focus of this research was to examine the process of talk and opinion expression
in FTF and CMC environments
Method: The study included 152 participants, average age was 31, with 54% being
women. These participants were required to look at news websites for 20 minutes
and then after were asked to answer multiple questionnaires using either CMC or
FTF.
Results: They concluded from the survey that those who experienced high social
presence (FTF) expressed fewer opinions than those who experienced low social
presence (CMC)

4. Study #2
Social Media and Online Political Communication
I. Himelboim, R. W. Lariscy, S. F. Tinkham& K. D. Sweetser
This study looks at the relationships among interpersonal information trust and
openness with internet-based political activities and attitudes.
Method: Included 574 participants in the city of Athens, Georgia ranging from ages 18-
93 with an average age of 51. Random phone calls were administered, and during
these calls participants were asked to rate from 1-5 (using the #’s on the phone) if
they agreed with a few statements regarding the recent election (2008) and
whether or not they preferred getting there political information through social
media or traditional media reach .
Results: They concluded from this study that social media spaces have increasingly
been used by people for political interaction and information consumption.

5. Study #3
Online vs. FTF Deleberation
Seong-Jang Min
The researchers are trying to find out how online deliberation compares to FTF
deliberations.
Method: They designed a study using 81 students at a Midwestern city in a
communications class, 27 were randomly assigned to a FTF condition while 24
were online and 30 were part of the control group. The groups were asked to
answer a questionnaire about their opinion on a school issue they read about
before and after they were subjected to their separate tasks:
– FTF users: 90 minute deliberation
– Online users: chat room between others
– Control group: answered questionnaire
Results: The research found out that both groups (FTF & online) gained more info on
the school issue than the control group, but the average opinion of the FTF group
was lower than the online group.

6. Study #4
It’s Complicated: Facebook User’s Political Participation in the 2008 Election
J. Vitak, P. Zube, A. Smock, C.T. Carr, N. Ellison & C. Lampe
This study was trying to figure out what political activities on facebook college
students participated in.
Method: A population of 4,000 undergraduate students were used in this study. Each
of their facebook pages were monitored by the researchers for 2 weeks; the
researchers were looking for how much they used facebookand were administered
questionnaires about their political knowledge, interest and political participation
(included on and offline activity).
Result: The research concluded that the most common form of political activity was
watching a campaign debate via traditional news media but accumulatively this
study showed more political participation (e.g. online petitions, facebook
discussions and statuses) was conducted online.

7. Study #5
The Rise of Non-Traditional Site Use for Online Political Information
John H. Parmelee, John Davies & Carolyn A. McMahan
These researchers were trying to find a correlation between the use of traditional or
non traditional web sites and their interest in politics.
Method: A random telephone survey was conducted to 401 participants in Duval
county in Florida. During this survey the participants were asked how important
internet was in gathering political info. They were simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions
asking which websites they used to gather their political information.
Results: The researchers found that people who use non traditional websites (e.g.
blogs& discussion spaces) were more interested in politics than those who used
traditional websites (e.g. NBC, Newsweek, USA Today)

8. Hypothesis
H: People are more likely to express their
political views via CMC than FTF.
IV: Medium (CMC vs. FTF)
DV: expressing political views