From the introduction of the iPad to the expansion of social mediums like Facebook and Twitter, California continues to be a leader in technology and innovation.  But how expansive are these technologies?  Has this innovation penetrated California households?  How are these technologies impacting politics, political discourse, and the dissemination of political news and information?  And how are voters using these new technologies?  A recent statewide survey provides insight on the role of technology in California.

Facebook and Social Media Penetration

• Over two in five voters (41%) use Facebook
  • There is a linear correlation by age:
    • 78% of voters 18-29 years old use Facebook
    • 68% of voters 30-39 years old
    • 53% of voters 40-49 years old
    • 42% of voters 50-64 years old
    • 12% of seniors (voters 65+).

• Slightly more than one in 10 voters uses MySpace (13%) and Twitter (11%);
• Over three in four Facebook users (78%) access their accounts once a week or even more frequently, and 40  percent report using the social media site daily;
  • This translates into 16% of likely voters using Facebook daily.
• Of the 46% of voters who report using social media, 57% access political news and information via Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.
  • This converts to over a quarter of voters (26%) statewide reading political news and information via social media sites;

• Two in five (40%) social media users report supporting or following candidates for office via Facebook and Twitter, with the most popular public figures in California including
  • Jerry Brown (10% among social media users)
  • Meg Whitman (9% among social media users)
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (8%)
  • Gavin Newsom (8%);

• More voters under 40 have a Facebook account (72%) than subscribe to cable television (59%).

• More independents and Democrats are Facebook users than Republicans
  • 53% of independents are on Facebook
  • 43% of Democrats use this social media site
  • 32% of Republicans are on it.

• This translates into Facebook users being more Democratic and independent than the statewide electorate as a whole –
  • 49% of Facebook users are Democrats
  • 28% are Republicans
  • 17% are independents

• Use varies somewhat by geography
  • Silicon Valley has the highest level of Facebook members (50%) (the Bay Area as a whole has a similar amount, 49%)
  • Los Angeles and San Diego lag behind (37% and 31%, respectively).

iPhone, BlackBerries, and Voter Behavior

• One in seven voters (16%) own an iPhone
• One in five voters (21%) owns a BlackBerry or other type of smart phone.
• Partisanship and voting behaviors vary considerably among iPhone and BlackBerry users:
  • iPhone users are much more Democratic than BlackBerry users:
    • iPhone users are 53% Democratic, 25% Republican, and 22% Independent
    • BlackBerry users are 46% Democratic, 40% Republican, and 14% independent.
  • These partisan differences affect how each phone’s users votes for Governor:
    • iPhone owners favor Jerry Brown by a wide margin (57% Brown – 31% Whitman, 12% undecided);
    • Blackberry users prefer Meg Whitman for Governor by a narrower margin (38% Brown – 47% Whitman, 15% undecided);
• One in five voters (20%) use their smart phone to get political news and information.

Personal computers and broadband access

• Nearly nine in ten voters (89%) own a personal computer at home (38%), at work (1%) or both (50%).
• One in three voters (34%) reports accessing the Internet in public locations such as the public library or an educational institution.
• Over four in five voters (83%) have high speed or broadband Internet access at home (36%), work (3%), or both (44%).

Methodology

From January 20 – January 25, 2010 Tulchin Research conducted a telephone survey among 700 likely voters in California, with 600 voters statewide and an oversample of 100 voters in Silicon Valley.  The margin of error is +/- 3.9 percentage points for the statewide sample.

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