Search engines preferred method for finding online government information

Americans are clicking to government websites even as they continue to mostly rely on search engines to find online government information and services, finds a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The results of a telephone survey of 2,258 adults with a 2 percent margin of error shows that 48 percent of Internet users have looked online for information about a public policy or issue, and that 44 percent of those who could remember the last government website they visited found that site through a search engine.

Only 4 percent found a government website through a portal such as usa.gov.

About a third of Internet users also consume government social media, although attitudes toward online government engagement show that government use of commercial social media sites is perceived as less important than government sites themselves.

While 84 to 87 percent believe it is "very important" or "somewhat important" for the government to do traditional website outreach--posting information online, allowing people to complete tasks and to contact officials through a website--only 46 percent believe that is important that government post information and alerts through sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Whereas the balance between "very important" and "somewhat important" is heavily lopsided to "very" for traditional web tasks, it is evenly split when it comes to government engagement in commercial, social media sites.

As for consumers of government social media, they are somewhat better off than the overall online population, the survey finds. They tend to be more affluent--36 percent have an annual household income of $75,000 or more, compared to 27 percent of the online population--and more educated, with nearly half having graduated from college whereas only about a third of overall adult Internet users have done so.

Also, the telephone remains the preferred instrument of choice when people have a problem, question or task involving the government. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they prefer to call a government agency, compared to 28 percent who said they prefer resolving problems through a website or email contact.

The report numbers suggest that online contact could become more favorable as broadband connections become more common. Thirty nine percent of home broadband users prefer online contact where as only 23 percent of home dial-up users do.

For more:
- check out the survey results (.pdf)
- read this Nextgov article about the survey

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