A new study suggests the Internet is used as a resource for influencing participation in civic affairs more often than general media and face-to-face communication.

Conducted by University of Wisconsin journalism and mass communication professor Dhavan Shah, the study tested the change in media exposure over time. Shah's work analyzed various forms of data conducted before, during and after the 2000 presidential election.

Shah focused on individuals' patterns of news consumption and engagement in public and civic life. He said he found evidence conflicting with the belief that the Internet may decrease engagement in civic affairs.

"The Internet is not a dead end," Shah said. "Many people believe it may privatize leisure time and take away from civic engagement, but the study found just the opposite."

Although younger people seem to be the most disengaged, Shah said they also exhibit the most Internet activity — a good means of civic participation.

"The Internet is a place we can learn and gather information," Shah said. "But [it] is also an element of ability to connect with other people. It is a sphere for people to interact and provides a venue to exchange information."

Mediums of online civic participation include e-mailing, blogs and forums, which, according to UW journalism and mass communication professor Dietram Scheufele, are used to supplement the general media.

"We are seeing some groups supplement the general media with online media while seeking more information in a customized form," Scheufele said.

Scheufele added there are both positive and negative effects that go along with online media.The positive is "information about politics and engagement is much more easily available than it's ever been," he said. But Scheufele said the drawbacks to such easy information are much of it contains mixed messages.

"[The] younger generation have a hard time distinguishing between real news and political messaging," Scheufele said. "It will be interesting to see to which degree this generation will be able to make that distinction."

Shah believes that through political messaging citizens can become involved in political expression and engagement in public life without the limitations of face-to-face communication. He also found people who engage in face-to-face talk differ from people who engage in civic messaging.

Additionally, Shah said his study illustrates how the Internet can be used as a tool in promoting and sustaining the long-term health of democracy.

Shah has also expanded his study by analyzing data from the 2004 presidential elections — which combined panel data with data on political advertising exposure. One aspect of the study questioned the effects on a community that is the focus of political advertising.

"We must question our assumptions about the media," Shah said. "We tend to recognize the media as a complex phenomenon, but we have to stop taking it for simplistic. Media effects are not simple. It helps us focus on real issues."

Shah's study was published in the October edition of the Journal of Communication Research.