The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that social media has been a significant part of the 2012 election process as voters talk about their ballot selections and encourage others to hit the polls.
The project found that 22 percent of registered voters let others know how they voted on a social media website, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Social media sites have also become a place for people to encourage others to vote and to vote a certain way. The survey said 30 percent of registered voters have been encouraged by family and friends to vote for Democrat Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney through social media posts. The survey also noted that 20 percent of registered voters have encouraged others to vote by posting on a social networking site.
To obtain this data, the Princeton Survey Research Associates International November 2012 Omnibus Week 1 conducted telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,011 adults living in the continental United States, the group said. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline and cell phone. Interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source from November 1 to 4, 2012. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The surveyors said the margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ± 3.6 percentage points.