Exposure to political information on the internet

This paper analyses online exposure to political information, its causes and some of its potential consequences. For this purpose we use survey data representative of the Spanish population gathered in 2007, 2008 and 2009. First we describe the extent to which Spanish citizens actively search for political information online or receive emails with political content. Secondly, we analyse which individual characteristics (socio-demographic variables, political attitudes and traditional media exposure) explain online exposure to political information. Thirdly, we study to what extent this variable affects political discussion and voter turnout in two election campaigns. Our findings show that only a very small portion of the population in Spain follows online news, and that socioeconomic resources and motivations are significant factors. The impact of this exposure is limited and has a bigger impact on political debate than voting.