PUBLIC USE OF ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN SOME EU MEMBER STATES

Back in March 2013, Ipsos Public Affairs conducted a survey covering 24 countries around the world to determine their use of the  Internet and social media for public discourse on public policy, social and political issues. Their research revealed three key segments of online activity/behavior:

Actively Engaged included those who reported that in the past month they had started conversations or written original ideas about public policy, social or political issues or had commented on what others had written or posted about these issues or shared links to articles or information about public policy, social or political issues with others.

Passively Engaged represented those who had only read what others had posted about public policy, social or political issues in the past month.

Not Engaged had done nothing online in the past month regarding public policy, social, and political issues.

Here are the results for some EU Countries

1. Italy: 55% Active, 22% Passive, 23% Inactive
2. Spain: 53% Active, 27% Passive, 20% Inactive
3. Poland: 48% Active, 35% Passive, 17% Inactive
4. Hungary: 36% Active, 42% Passive, 22% Inactive
5. United Kingdom: 34% Active, 26% Passive, 40% Inactive
6. Sweden: 30% Active, 31% Passive, 39% Inactive
7. Belgium: 24% Active, 31% Passive, 45% Inactive
8. Germany: 23% Active, 32% Passive, 45% Inactive
9. France: 23% Active, 32% Passive, 45% Inactive

A good deal more probing and prodding is needed to truly understand the relationships and nuances involved in public use of online and social media to examine public policy, social and political issues.

Nevertheless, the information provided in this preliminary dive suggests that this is an area that decision-makers and influencers clearly need to understand and monitor. Some key observations include:

• A significant proportion of the population of each country is online, and is either Actively or Passively participating in public policy, social and political issues. This is clearly a new world of opinion and potential behavior formation that needs to be understood and monitored by decision-makers and influencers.
• While there are understandable demographic skews, the online and social media world is far from being the exclusive domain of any one demographic group with respect to public policy, social and political issues.
• By their very nature, Actively Engaged users represent potential advocates or detractors for a particular interest, in need of either mobilization or neutralization. However, the core of Passively Engaged users is also of potential importance because by being online, they have made the first step to evolving into Actively Engaged users.
• The Internet does not follow traditional geographic boundaries, and this, combined with increasing levels of immigration and emigration, means that decision-makers and influencers charged with understanding the online and social media world need to be cognizant of what is happening beyond their borders. Information sourcing, idea and comment sharing, the fertilization of ideas and movements in the public policy, social and political issue world is not necessarily geographically confined.