You’ve probably seen the results of dozens of election polls by now,
but what about research specifically concentrating on social media
users? How will they be voting in the U.S. presidential election coming
up on Nov. 6? To find out, market research firm
Lab42 surveyed 500 U.S. social media users.
Infographic courtesy Lab42
In the survey, respondents were asked who they planned to vote for, and in an interesting twist, who they’ll be voting
against.
The survey digs deeper, finding out if spouses agree on presidential
candidates, which issues have the most impact on voters’ decisions, and
who is just not going to vote at all.
The most significant findings are about the closely watched
independents, those who say they aren’t affiliated with either the
Republican or Democratic parties. According to the survey, the race is
nowhere near over for denizens of social media, with significant
percentages still undecided, especially those who aren’t registered. One
statistic that made us laugh: 7% of registered independents have
changed their minds four or more times.
And really, 29% of the respondents didn’t even know what “GOP” stands for…? Ouch.
By the way, if you’re having trouble making up your mind, here’s a powerful tool,
I Side With,
a website that gives you a detailed questionnaire and lets you discover
how your political views match up with the candidates.
The survey was conducted Oct. 2-4, 2012 with 500 Facebook and Twitter
users responding. A lot has happened since Oct. 4, the day after the
first debate in which Obama’s performance was widely panned. However,
the next two debates were seen as mostly wins for the Obama campaign, so
it’s possible these results could somewhat balance out. And, according
to a spokesperson from Lab42, “The majority of respondents took the
survey after the first debate, and I think the only stat that may have
changed is the undecided vote, which will continue to change up until
the election.”
What do you think? Does this survey reflect your impression of the voting landscape in social media?