A record percentage of Americans have used the internet to participate in the most closely-watched presidential election in decades, finds a newly-released survey from the non-partisan Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The spring 2008 survey finds that a record-breaking 46 percent of all Americans have used the internet, e-mail or cell-phone text messaging to participate in the political process.

The survey found that the internet is becoming an increasing part of the norm of political participation – people are using it to read the news, share their views, or to participate in some other process to get others to take political action.

"In this season, just the twelfth year of presidential politics online, there is no disputing the fact that the internet has moved from the periphery to the center of national politics," write Aaron Smith, a research specialist and Lee Rainie, the Pew project's director in the new survey.

Bloggers in general are having a huge impact on the course of election, but the kind of audio and video that they're digging up is playing a significant role in driving the news cycle, the researchers write.

The Huffington Post' recording of Barack Obama calling a portion of the electorate bitter over job losses and clinging to their guns and religion at a San Francisco fund-raiser is an example, they write.

"The event became a central narrative of the campaign heading into the Pennsylvania primary," they write.

Other pivotal internet moments that the researchers point to: the online conversation and video-viewing of Obama's former pastor the

Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his incendiary sermons; and the controversy stirred up by blogger Bruce Wilson over the sermons of John Hagee, a preacher and televangelist. John McCain severed his ties to Hagee after

Wilson posted audio of the preacher arguing that Hitler was an agent of

God.

Almost half of online adults have watched some kind of online political video, finds a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Credit: YouTube

Those findings are particularly interesting given that the most popular political activity among those surveyed was the watching of videos.

"Some 47 percent of online adults have watched at least one type of online political video (out of a list of five possible types of videos,)" write the Pew researchers. That amounts to 35 percent of all adults.

Overall, the surveyors found that just under a third of all internet users have participated in the online political process through a variety of means: They either forwarded or wrote their own political commentary, signed online petitions, signed up with the campaigns themselves to receive information, forwarded online audio or video segments, or signed up to volunteer for events related to campaigns.

Fewer than one percent of those surveyed had created their own political video or audio recordings, the survey found.

In many ways, the survey's numbers simply confirm anecdotal evidence of the nature of the online campaign so far.

For example, the authors of the survey write: "Simply put, Democrats and Obama backers are more in evidence on the internet than backers of other candidates or parties."

Then they add: "Among Democrats, Obama's supporters are more likely than Hillary Clinton's supporters to be internet users – 82 % vs. 71%."

Unsurprisingly, the survey found that almost two thirds of Obama supporters get their political news and information on the internet, versus 56% of McCain supporters.

Obama's supporters are more politically active on online social networks, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. *Data from: *The Pew Internet & American Life Project

The survey also finds that Obama supporters are more "more politically active social networking users than McCain supporters when the two candidates are compared head to head."

At the same time as Americans' use of the internet has grown in the political sphere, there's also a healthy dose of skepticism.

Sixty percent of those surveyed, for example, agree with the statement that "The internet is full of misinformation and propaganda that too many voters believe is accurate." Thirty two percent disagreed with that.

A surprising 74 percent of those surveyed disagreed with the statement that they would not be as involved with the campaign if it weren't for the internet.

But age could be the factor that explains that finding. When the Pew researchers broke that out among age groups, a larger portion of the younger groups of people tended to agree that the internet is important in helping them to stay active and connected with the campaigns.

The survey also finds that Americans are eager to view source materials for themselves – almost 40 percent of internet users and a third of all adults have gone online to read or watch unfiltered campaign material, such as archived debates, speeches and announcements and position papers.

For more on the findings, you can surf over to Pew.

Image data source: Pew Internet & American Life Project.