The Netizen - Special Report p.6

The Netizen : The Digital Citizen p.6 of 8

Postpartisan and up for Grabs
When it comes to political affiliation, how would you describe yourself?

If It's Broke, Fix It!
What is your evaluation of the Social Security system and its needs?

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See the full survey results
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Connected and free

Digital Citizens are markedly libertarian - they have much more confidence in the ability of business and individuals to solve problems than in government. Strong majorities of both the Connected and the Superconnected - 55 and 59 percent respectively - believe that Internet users should be allowed to police themselves rather than be subjected to regulation by the federal government. Perhaps because so many of the Connected live, work, play, and communicate in a culture with few taboos and restrictions, they value freedom of thought much more than the Unconnected.

Digital Citizens' political values draw heavily from the humanism and social tolerance of the left, but they dispute the view that government is both primarily responsible for and effective at confronting and solving social problems - a cornerstone of both the Democratic Party and the ideology we've come to call liberalism. Personal responsibility is a powerful idea in the online world - a notion that meshes closely with the survey's findings that Connected Americans believe in democracy, but not necessarily in the ability of government to solve social problems. Their passion for individual responsibility and market forces suggests the ideology of the right. More than 90 percent of them expressed confidence in the workings of the free market.

But they are not "uppercase" Libertarians. When asked to choose, slightly more Connected Americans label themselves as Republicans than as Democrats, but many choose neither. Nineteen percent describe themselves as "strong" Republicans, and 21 percent say they are "weak" Republicans. In the same group, 15 percent see themselves as strong Democrats, and 18 percent as weak Democrats. Meanwhile, 20 percent of the Connected prefer to call themselves independent.

This is a group that thinks for itself and decides issues one by one, instead of following a strict ideology or platform. In a nod to conservatives, nearly half of Connected Americans believe the Social Security system requires "truly major reform," and more than three-quarters support the death penalty. But in sympathy with liberals, more than half believe it's possible to cut military spending by a third and still maintain current levels of national security, and an amazing 71 percent support the legalization of marijuana for medical use.

Connected Americans are also family-centered, with strong connections to other people - 56 percent of them would agree to give up a day's pay each week if that meant they could spend one more day at home with friends and family. Despite their technological savvy, Connected Americans still prefer the familiarity of a human voice: overwhelmingly, they said they would prefer to relate good news to friends and family via telephone rather than via email.

The postpolitical flexibility of the Digital Citizen is rationalist, largely fact-driven, and more concerned with perceived truths than traditional labels. If evidence suggests that the Social Security system needs reform, Connected Americans support reform. If medical evidence suggests marijuana would help reduce suffering among the terminally ill, then they support its limited legalization despite the countervailing drone of political and religious rhetoric. What Digital Citizens reject, the survey suggests, isn't civics or two-party politics, but rigidly formalized authority. This new culture represents a political community with a strong sense of adventure and exploration. Its members want politicians to be smart and tell the truth, and they have little admiration for those who blindly adhere to party platforms or stifly parrot what their political handlers tell them.

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Discuss the survey with Jon Katz and other digital citizens, in Threads.
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