Nearly a quarter of Egyptians (23%) say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to obtain news about their country’s political situation.

Nearly a quarter of Egyptians (23%) say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to obtain news about their country’s political situation; 6% access these sites but have not used it as a source of political news. About two-thirds (65%) do not use the internet or email.

Usage of social networking sites as a source of political news and information is especially prevalent among the highly educated and those with higher incomes. Two-thirds of those with a college education obtain news about Egypt’s political situation from these sites, compared with 23% of those with a secondary education and just 1% of those with a primary education or less. Similarly, about half (51%) of those with high incomes use social networking sites for political news and information, compared with just 12% of those in the middle-income category and 15% of those with low incomes. Few among the less-educated and poorer Egyptians access the internet at all. Read More

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Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.