First off, thank you for all the wonderful replies to 'Republicans on the Web - Who Are You?' You showed that their is a cross section of conservatives on the web of different ages, philosopies, and experiences. As for myself, I am a 33 year old single woman living in New Hampshire. I write for Blogs4McCain as well as my own sites like McCain Blogger Resources, and NH4McCain. The main reason I am involved in this election in a way I haven't been before, and why I've become such an avid McCain supporter, is Iraq/foreign policy. I think this is one of those issues that could effect the US and the world for generations to come, and believe Sentor McCain is by far the most qualified to deal with it. In general terms my political leanings are libertarian-light, small government, low taxes, stay out of people's lives. I'm content as an Independent because, while generally right of center, my views don't match up particularly well any one party, third parties included. Also, while I have gained more of an appreciation for party politics in the last year, I still have a distaste for much of the back and forth the two sides of tend to engage in.
However, I am 'all in' in this election, so back to the original point of the article. Who are you and how does this relate to the online presence of Republicans? First, your well educated and may currently may be at school. Your average age is 32, though I believe I'm the only one in their thirties. If you are not at school then you are a professional. Family is probably very important to you.
This may not be a big enough sample to draw grand conclusions from, but it does point to one of the factors that I believe is significant to online politics; Age. This sample reflects a trend on the internet in general, a large number of twenty something, few thirty somethings, and some forty and fifty somethings.* The logic behind the small number of thirty somethings is that this is the age bracket when people have young families and careers that consume a huge amount of time, thus limitting their time on internet. Some of you mentioned time as a factor, and it would make sense that professionals that lean Republican may not be online as much simply due to time constrains.
People in their late teens and early twenties make up a large chunk of the internet audience, which likely effects the numbers difference between right and left. However, it also begs further questions about the role of online political movements. First being who is being influenced? Is it primarily twenty somethings, or is it also the media? What are the positives and negatives to having a medium that is primarily seeking twenty somethings?
The main reason for the age questions is that I believe there is an opportunity for the right to be more effective online than the left, even if the numbers are difficult to overcome. The candidates on the left appear to be pushed even further to the left by the web, into what could possibly be an unelectable possition. Also, looking at the presidential election the bitterness between Obama and Clinton camps seems to be driven by the online behavior of their supporters (particualrly Obama supporters). This strikes me as a possible mistake of youth and/or emotion, not recognizing that burning bridges means losing votes. So my question this time is: What role does age play in online politics, and do you see an opening for conservatives to be more effective online?
*Should have qualified the age breakdown on the web. That reflects about of time spent browsing/surfing the web not the number of people with internet access/connection.
