On Friday, The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press [1], released results from a new survey on campaign contact with likely voters in the early primary states (IA, NH & SC) as well as nationally.

Not surprisingly, traditional campaign tools are still used overwhelmingly, like the pre-recorded or robo-call, but there is increased use of online tools, such as websites, video and social networking, especially among Millennials. And, despite the high percentage of likely voters who report receiving a pre-recorded (robo-call) from a candidate, the survey reveals that few actually listen to the call, with about a third reporting the calls as a minor annoyance.

"The internet, too, is playing a greater role this year than at a comparable point in the 2004 campaign. In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the share of Democratic voters who have visited any of the candidate's websites is up. And in all three states as well as nationwide more Democratic voters are receiving campaign-related email."

As for online campaign activities, besides receiving emails, the most prevalent was video clips:

But, as the Summary states:

"However, there is a substantial age gap in online political activity, particularly when it comes to visiting social network sites to learn more about the campaign. Nationally, 17% of likely voters ages 18 to 34 say they have visited a social network site to learn about the campaign or sign up as a friend; no more than one-in-20 older voters go on these sites to engage in political activity. In addition, younger voters ages 18-34 are more likely than older voters to watch online video clips about the campaign."

This is a trend we've been exploring through the work of our New Politics Institute and discussed in the report: The Progressive Politics of the Millennial Generation [2]

Also, for more on Social Networks, check out NPI's New Tools campaign report: Leverage Social Networks released last month [3].

To read Pew's summary report of the survey in its entirety visit: http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=377