Pew scholar to explore effects of Internet on American life

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, will lecture at Skidmore College at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6. Free and open to the public, the talk will be in Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall.

The 2008 campaign was a breakout year for the Internet in politics as social networking, online video, donations, blogging, and text messaging became important parts of political communication. Rainie will talk about the Pew Internet and American Life Project?s surveys that have charted the rise of the Internet in politics, and look ahead to how online campaign activities might affect the way the winner of this year?s presidential election will govern.

Since December 1999, the Pew Internet and American Life Project has examined how people?s Internet use affects their families, communities, health care, education, civic and political life, and work places. The project uses regular surveys to track online life. It regularly reports findings on topics such as teenagers? and senior citizens? use of the Internet, broadband adoption, trends in email use, how people employ search engines, use of the Internet to gather news (especially about politics) blog creation and readership, and trends in music and movie file sharing.

The project has issued more than 120 reports based on social issues and online activities. It also has focused research on important public policy questions such as public attitudes about trust and privacy online, development of e-government, attitudes about intellectual property issues, the impact of spam, and the status of digital divides. Prior to launching the project, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News and World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard College and holds a master?s degree in political science from Long Island University. He is married to Paulette Adkins Rainie, a 1980 Skidmore graduate.