2008 Politics and the Internet: A Survey of Internet Use for Political Information The purpose of this survey is to examine the Internet's influence on the U.S. political process. Although we recognize that the Internet is a global medium, we ask that only those individuals who are eligible to vote in the U.S. participate in this survey. This study is being conducted for academic purposes by researchers at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The UT Institutional Review Board has approved this survey. All responses will be held on a secure server on the UTK campus. The survey is encrypted to protect anonymity, cookies are not used nor is IP routing information collected. All responses will be kept confidential and stored on a secured computer accessible only by the two principal researchers. No identifying personal factors will be used in reporting the results of this survey. Entering your e-mail address in the first question is optional and will be used only to check for duplicate transmission - it will be deleted after the survey is received. To take the survey, begin clicking on the response options. Completion of this survey will be taken as your permission to participate in this research. If at any time you wish to withdraw from the survey just click the "next" button until you get to the end and then click exit/send. (If you choose to withdraw, we would appreciate it if you could complete the five demographic questions at the end of the survey. Just click the "next" button until you come to the "gender" question. There'll be four more questions then the exit/send screen. As part of the survey procedures we've including a "snowball" option - we're asking you to please send the survey on to your friends and family members who are eligible to vote. There's a form at the end of the survey on which you'll enter your friends' email addresses and they'll be whisked the survey. Your friends’ email addresses are neither recorded nor stored, nor will they be solicited by anyone other than yourself. The survey will take about 20-25 minutes to complete. We realize this is a long survey but each question is important. We really appreciate your time. For this survey, you will be asked to examine if and how you use the following online and non-online resources for political information: a) Media/Journalism Blog: Reports news and/or opinion and is hosted by media sites, such as msnbc.com. b) Political Blog: Primarily comments on politics. Political blogs often have a clearly stated political bias. c) Candidate/Party Blog: Created by a candidate or political party for the purpose of promoting the candidate and/or political viewpoints. d) Politically-oriented Web Sites: Websites that focus on politics. e) Traditional and Online News Media: Broadcast and cable television, broadcast radio, printed newspapers and printed newsmagazines and their online counterparts. f) Parody News Programs: For example, "The Daily Show," and "The Colbert Report." g) Candidate Literature: Online or printed information about a candidate that is produced by the candidate or by his/her campaign staff. h) Issue-oriented Literature: Online or printed information about political issues. i) Social Network Sites: Political social networksites such as "redblueamerica," and "Poliweets." Also, "MySpace" and "Facebook" political groups like Barack Obama (one million strong for Barack; 1,000,000 strong for McCain/Palin '08).