The much-hyped advent of"cyberpolitics" in the British general election was largely a matter for young people and men, a report published today has found.
Female voices were almost excluded from Internet debates on the election, with men making up more than 97 per cent of contributors to online forums, according to the Hansard Society survey 2001 - Cyber Space Odyssey.
Under-25s were more than twice as likely as older voters to use the Internet to find information about the election and three times as likely to be swayed by what they found.
Seventeen per cent of 18-24 year-olds reported the Internet had influenced their vote, compared with just5 per cent of over-24s.
Despite predictions that the 2001 poll would be the first Internet election, the survey found that fewer than one in five voters with access to the web used it for election-related activities.
Eleven per cent said they had gone to an online site to find election news and just 7 per cent used the web or e-mail to find out information about parties, policies or candidates.
But researchers say the findings indicate Internet campaigns will become a necessity for parties in future elections.
"These findings point to a trend. Younger voters are much more interested in the Internet as a route to politics than are older voters. These are the voters of the future, so e-politics is here to stay and in future elections this generation of voters and those following them will be targeted much more successfully by e-campaigners."
PA