Posted on 11/01/2006 10:07:02 AM PST by NormsRevenge
November 01, 2006 -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ: NTRT), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that 36.6 percent of U.S. adults online are Republicans, 30.8 percent are Democrats and 17.3 percent are Independents. With campaign Web sites becoming increasingly important to reaching the electorate, candidates need to keep their fingers on the political pulse of the Internet.
The Web site with the highest concentration of Republicans was RushLimbaugh.com, with an 84.8 percent Republican audience (see Table 1). NewsMax.com and Bill O'Reilly.com ranked No. 2 and 3, with audiences that were 65.4 percent Republican. The Drudge Report and Salt Lake Tribune rounded out the top five Republican sites with 59.0 and 57.9 composition percent.
Among Democrats, the top three sites were BlackAmericaWeb.com, AOL BlackVoices and BET.com with audiences that were 79.9 percent, 64.8 percent and 58.6 percent Democratic, respectively. Salon.com and Village Voice ranked fourth and fifth among Democrats, with 55.3 and 55.2 composition percent.
"The fact that the online population is more heavily composed of Republicans than Democrats is principally a function of the Republican party's higher composition within the overall electorate," said Nielsen//NetRatings analyst Ken Cassar. "This is exacerbated by the fact that online penetration continues to be deeper among affluent households, which have historically skewed Republican," he continued.
Table 1: Top 5 Sites among Republicans and Democrats (U.S., 18+ Online Population)
Site Site
Composition - Composition -
Site Republican Site Democratic
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RushLimbaugh.com 84.8 BlackAmericaWeb.com 79.9
NewsMax.com 65.4 AOL BlackVoices 64.8
Bill O'Reilly.com 65.4 BET.com 58.6
Drudge Report 59.0 Salon.com 55.3
Salt Lake Tribune 57.9 Village Voice 55.2
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan, Fall 2006 Release Newspaper of Choice
Political party members also have distinct tastes in online newspapers. WSJ.com has predominantly Republican readers, at 40.2 percent. Democrats make up 25.8 percent of WSJ.com's readership, closely followed by Independents at 24.3 percent.
The New York Times online is a favorite among Democrats, who make up 52.3 percent of its readership. Independents compose 22.6 percent and Republicans 18.3 percent.
Political Leaning
When respondents were asked about their political leaning, the largest segment, 36.1 percent, identified themselves as "Moderate." The second largest segment, 32.5 percent, identified themselves as "Conservative/Very Conservative," while 19.8 percent of respondents identified themselves as "Liberal/Very Liberal."
Demographics
Perhaps contrary to assumptions about who's a Democrat and who's a Republican, neither party seemed to favor a particular gender or age group. Among racial groups, African Americans skewed Democratic; with a composition index of 231, they were over twice as likely to be Democratic as the average Web user. Asians were 36 percent more likely than the average Web user to be Democratic, and Hispanics were 28 percent more likely. White people were slightly more likely to be Republican.
About Nielsen//NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.
Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.
This is prolly because Republicans are more educated :-)
Republicans have jobs, and can either afford computers at home, or can access them at work.
Were you insulting Democrats or was that a botched joke about JF'nK?
This is prolly because Republicans are more educated :-)
-- I guess that means they don't have to go to Iraq. ;-)
My guess is most democrats are trolling
for underage sexual partners.
"Republicans Outnumber Democrats Online"
What choice do they have? Where else is there any freedom of expression?
The democrat party has seized absolute control of all other media (outside of some talk radio shows and Fox News).
This would be directly attributable to the fact that Republicans can read.
Republicans care about what happens in our government and country. We are concerned and want to stay informed and will be active rather than reactive on all issues. The democrats on the contrary would rather have the electorate remain clueless and easier to manipulate come election time or poll time.
I hope that AZR was insulting Democraps. They're all stupid.:)
The Democratic base is old (non-wired) and dying off, while the Republican base is younger (wired).
bit misleading. When you're on the net surfing forums around the world, don't you feel that theres more Democrats/Liberal types than Republican/Capitalists type. When I'm surfing around, it feels like its 10 to 1 odds. If you look at online polls around the world. They aren't scientific polls I know, but it gives you an indication on who visit those websites. Liberals tend to win those by wide margins
I do think that most Republicans are also on the net for more serious issues.
That said, I have been pleasantly surprised while online. Usually the libs will throw the usual emotional tantrum in a forum about something -- but then a reasoned conservative will post and all of the obnoxious libs will flee, or call them 'meanspirited' or what not.
I think that the exposure of conservative thought (which on the whole is far more rational than liberal 'thought') really opens the eyes of people online. Where else do you even get exposed to conservative ideas outside of talk radio?
I remember being on a forum dedicated to programming once, and someone posted how great that the UN Declaration of Human Rights was. Then a conservative/libertarian popped in and told everyone how idiotic it is, and compared our own Constition to it.
That was a beautiful moment.
Here is my understanding of how things work with respect to political affiliation on the 'net:
The most popular political sites (Kos, Huffpo, Slate, etc) are indeed liberal (and some, such as tompaine.com or Kos are quite a bit to the left of the center). However, the majority of political sites (whether discussion sites like FR, online magazines like NRO, or news aggregators like RCP, Drudge, and Breitbart) are conservative or libertarian. And indeed the total conservative/libertarian bandwith exceeds the liberal bandwith, but it is more widely distributed. Liberals go to fewer, but more popular, sites and get their news and discussion from fewer sources.
And I forgot blogs. Conservatives dominate the blogosphere even though the highest traffic blogs are liberal.
Why was this site not mentioned? Bet the republican base is even higher.
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