A comprehensive study of the impact of online technology conducted by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future finds that for the first time, the number of users who say that the Internet can be used to gain political power has increased. "Print and television forever changed politics through their powerful enormous impact on all elements of the political process — yet these media have never made voters feel politically empowered," said Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. "Until now, the Internet didn't empower voters either," Cole said. "But with the expansion of information online about issues and candidates during the 2004 elections, and an increase in voters accessing this information, this year the Digital Future Project found significant growth in the number of people who feel politically empowered by going online."
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