PDA

View Full Version : Republicans Outnumber Democrats Online, According to Nielsen//NetRatings



Gan
11-01-2006, 04:57 PM
http://media.marketwire.com/attachments/200610/293245_NNR_200px.JPG (http://www.marketwire.com/mw/frame_multimedia?prid=178875&attachid=360720)

Republicans Outnumber Democrats Online, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

"Moderate" Is the Most Common Political Leaning Among Web Users


NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 01, 2006 -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ: NTRT (http://studio.financialcontent.com/Engine?Account=iwire&PageName=QUOTE&Ticker=NTRT)), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that 36.6 percent of U.S. adults online are Republicans, 30.8 percent are Democrats and 17.3 percent are Independents. With campaign Web sites becoming increasingly important to reaching the electorate, candidates need to keep their fingers on the political pulse of the Internet.

The Web site with the highest concentration of Republicans was RushLimbaugh.com, with an 84.8 percent Republican audience (see Table 1). NewsMax.com and Bill O'Reilly.com ranked No. 2 and 3, with audiences that were 65.4 percent Republican. The Drudge Report and Salt Lake Tribune rounded out the top five Republican sites with 59.0 and 57.9 composition percent.

Among Democrats, the top three sites were BlackAmericaWeb.com, AOL BlackVoices and BET.com with audiences that were 79.9 percent, 64.8 percent and 58.6 percent Democratic, respectively. Salon.com and Village Voice ranked fourth and fifth among Democrats, with 55.3 and 55.2 composition percent.

"The fact that the online population is more heavily composed of Republicans than Democrats is principally a function of the Republican party's higher composition within the overall electorate," said Nielsen//NetRatings analyst Ken Cassar. "This is exacerbated by the fact that online penetration continues to be deeper among affluent households, which have historically skewed Republican," he continued.

Table 1: Top 5 Sites among Republicans and Democrats (U.S., 18+ Online Population)
Site Composition Republican .................................................. ....Site Composition Democratic
RushLimbaugh.com 84.8 .................................................. .............BlackAmericaWeb.com 79.9
NewsMax.com 65.4 .................................................. ...................AOL BlackVoices 64.8
Bill O'Reilly.com 65.4 .................................................. ..................BET.com 58.6
Drudge Report 59.0 .................................................. ...................Salon.com 55.3
Salt Lake Tribune 57.9 .................................................. ...............Village Voice 55.2
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan, Fall 2006 Release


Newspaper of Choice
Political party members also have distinct tastes in online newspapers. WSJ.com has predominantly Republican readers, at 40.2 percent. Democrats make up 25.8 percent of WSJ.com's readership, closely followed by Independents at 24.3 percent.

The New York Times online is a favorite among Democrats, who make up 52.3 percent of its readership. Independents compose 22.6 percent and Republicans 18.3 percent.

Political Leaning
When respondents were asked about their political leaning, the largest segment, 36.1 percent, identified themselves as "Moderate." The second largest segment, 32.5 percent, identified themselves as "Conservative/Very Conservative," while 19.8 percent of respondents identified themselves as "Liberal/Very Liberal."

Demographics
Perhaps contrary to assumptions about who's a Democrat and who's a Republican, neither party seemed to favor a particular gender or age group. Among racial groups, African Americans skewed Democratic; with a composition index of 231, they were over twice as likely to be Democratic as the average Web user. Asians were 36 percent more likely than the average Web user to be Democratic, and Hispanics were 28 percent more likely. White people were slightly more likely to be Republican.

About Nielsen//NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT (http://studio.financialcontent.com/Engine?Account=iwire&PageName=QUOTE&Ticker=NTRT)) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com (http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/). Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=178875
_________________________________________

Nielsen obviously failed to poll the Players Corner...

:lol:

Sean
11-01-2006, 05:04 PM
Originally Posted by Ganalon
Nielsen obviously failed to poll the Players Corner...

1st thing I thought too.

ElanthianSiren
11-01-2006, 05:13 PM
:banghead: Please... don't make me rip it to shreds. I'm tired.

-M

Sean
11-01-2006, 05:25 PM
I think the study would have been more interesting if they had ranked the site by # of democrats and republicans rather than % of democrats. It doesn't surprise me that a large number of people visiting BET.com are democrats.

Gan
11-01-2006, 05:26 PM
:banghead: Please... don't make me rip it to shreds. I'm tired.

-M

You know my opinion on polls in general. Still doesnt discount the fact of this story being funny.

Gan
11-01-2006, 05:28 PM
I think the study would have been more interesting if they had ranked the site by # of democrats and republicans rather than % of democrats. It doesn't surprise me that a large number of people visiting BET.com are democrats.

I'm also curious about as to why the college student level demographic was not highlighted... with sites like youtube, myspace, et. al.

I guess with the advent of news over the internet, the threat/angst of wasting paper on the publishing/posting of stupid news stories has diminished somewhat significantly.

ElanthianSiren
11-01-2006, 05:36 PM
I think the study would have been more interesting if they had ranked the site by # of democrats and republicans rather than % of democrats. It doesn't surprise me that a large number of people visiting BET.com are democrats.

You're right to ask for raw data. I investigated the PDF and couldn't find it. Percentages are misleading in statistics, to the point that most statisticians shudder to see a pie chart. The study might be unbiased and correct, or it might not. I have no way to verify it, so I'm inclined to think that it's not.

I also couldn't find any breakdown of their methods in the PDF, which would include what type of sampling was used. The most likely assumption that we can make is that they used voluntary response sampling or convenience sampling though, which is bound to introduce bias anyway.

...damnit, I did it anyway. And yes, I know, Gan, but I couldn't resist.

-M

Sean of the Thread
11-01-2006, 05:37 PM
90% of college students are brainwashed liberal pussies until they hit the real world.

Gan
11-01-2006, 05:41 PM
...damnit, I did it anyway. And yes, I know, Gan, but I couldn't resist. -M

Resistance is futile.

muahahahahaha.

Sean
11-01-2006, 05:43 PM
The real world hasn't done anything to change the opinion of this brainwashed liberal pussy.

Sean of the Thread
11-01-2006, 05:55 PM
wait.. you're a liberal???

Sean
11-01-2006, 06:49 PM
I know my general spewing of hate and anger would lead you to think i'm a conservative but alas my heart bleeds.

Gan
11-01-2006, 07:03 PM
I had you pegged for a cynic, actually.

TheEschaton
11-01-2006, 09:37 PM
The real world has made this liberal pussy even more liberal. ;)

-TheE-

Kriztian
11-02-2006, 01:07 AM
Liberal pussies>Conservative neo-fascists, any day.

Sean of the Thread
11-02-2006, 01:14 AM
You're right.. hug the enemy to death!

TheEschaton
11-02-2006, 09:13 AM
Hey, I have a powerful hug.

Seriously, read the Brothers Karamazov - Jesus answers all the accusations, all the problems, all the rants of the Grand Inquisitor, with a kiss which burns deep in his heart. That's what we need, more kissing.

-TheE-

Gan
11-02-2006, 09:33 AM
Unfortunately some folks just dont like to be kissed, and they have guns in their hands to enforce that dislike. :(

Sean
11-02-2006, 09:52 AM
Is that why Cheney shot his hunting partner?

Gan
11-02-2006, 10:03 AM
:lol:

perhaps....

xtc
11-02-2006, 03:46 PM
You're right.. hug the enemy to death!

How about not pissing him off, not invading his country, not propping up corrupt dictators? Perhaps then we will be safer.

Sean
11-02-2006, 04:16 PM
Man way to Atlanteax up the thread and suck the fun out of it.

Back
11-02-2006, 04:21 PM
What I find really weird about this study is the top Democratic sites being BlackAmericaWeb, AOL Black Voices and BET. The black community has traditionally been democratic, but of all the sites out there those three resulted in the most democratic hits? I think they have some data crossed somewhere.

Daniel
11-02-2006, 04:23 PM
It goes off percentage.

Sean
11-02-2006, 04:26 PM
Originally Posted by Backlash

What I find really weird about this study is the top Democratic sites being BlackAmericaWeb, AOL Black Voices and BET. The black community has traditionally been democratic, but of all the sites out there those three resulted in the most democratic hits? I think they have some data crossed somewhere.

It's not really telling you anything new. It's just that the greatest % of people who visit those sites are Democrats. Which fits with the most of the Black Community (or Black Community with internet access) are Democrats. The study doesn't tell you what sites have the greatest #s of Democrats visiting.

Back
11-02-2006, 04:35 PM
It's not really telling you anything new. It's just that the greatest % of people who visit those sites are Democrats. Which fits with the most of the Black Community (or Black Community with internet access) are Democrats. The study doesn't tell you what sites have the greatest #s of Democrats visiting.

I understand the percentages but why wouldn’t the RNC site have a higher percentage of republicans and the DNC of democrats? Unless they are also taking into account traffic?

Sean
11-02-2006, 04:36 PM
Or a high percentage of democrats visit the RNC web page to keep tabs on the Republicans and vice versa.

Sean of the Thread
11-02-2006, 04:38 PM
That and the GOP puts up a firewall to block black traffic. Duh.