Cell phones have become an essential communications tool for American adults. Fully 82% of American adults say they have cell phones, and 71% of them use text messaging. Some 39% of cell owners also use their handheld devices to access the internet.

Mobile connectivity has become a growing feature in all kinds of communication and information exchanges—including politics—and mobile connectivity is becoming a regular feature of political campaigns.  The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project tested the depths of this connection in the most recent campaign.

The results reported here come from a survey of 2,257 adults conducted November 3 through November 24, 2010. Among them, 1,918 are cell phone users. The margin of error in the cell-user sample is +/- 3 percentage points. The survey was conducted both on landline phones and cell phones and some 755 of the interviews were conducted on cell phones in this sample. This is the first time the Project has asked questions about use of cell phones in a mid-term election, so there are no comparable data for previous non-presidential elections. In 2008, we asked questions about texting and found that 29% of text messagers had traded texts with others or with candidates, their campaigns, or other groups.

This survey after the 2010 election found that more than a quarter of American adults – 26% – used their phones in one way or another to connect to the elections around the country:

• 14% of all American adults used their cell phones to tell others that they had voted. Some 71% of cell owners voted in the election, so that amounts to 27% of the mobile phone users who voted.
• 12% of adults used their cell phones to keep up with news about the election or politics. That amounts to 15% of cell-phone owners.  
• 10% of adults sent text messages relating to the election to friends, family members and others. That means that 18% of those who use text messaging sent texts for these purposes.
• 6% of adults used their cells to let others know about conditions at their local voting stations on election day, including insights about delays, long lines, low turnout, or other issues. That means 10% of the cell owners who voted in the election used their mobile phones that way.
• 4% of adults used their phones to monitor results of the election as they occurred. That is 5% of cell owners.
• 3% of adults used their cells to shoot and share photos or videos related to the election. That is 4% of cell owners.
• 2% of adults used a cell-phone app that provided updates from a candidate or group about election news.
• 1% of adults contributed money by text message to a candidate or group connected to the election like a party or interest group.

The mobile political user group is more male than female, young than old, better off financially than less well-off, and better educated than less well-educated. African-Americans are also more likely than whites or Hispanics to be in this group – see the table below.

Those who used their cell phones for political purposes are a high-tech, high-activity group when it comes to using the internet: 92% of them have broadband at home vs. 60% of all adults; 72% own laptops vs. 53% of all adults; 66% own iPods or other MP3 players vs. 43% of all adults; 55% own gaming consoles vs. 38% of all adults; 9% own e-book readers; and 10% own iPads or another tablet computer. When it comes to general internet use, 81% of these mobile political users say they go online daily vs. 72% of all internet users; 72% of the mobile group use social networking sites like Facebook vs. 61% of all internet users; and 14% use Twitter vs. 8% of all internet users. They are also heavy users of all other functions on their cell phones such as getting email, sending texts and instant messages, and accessing the internet.