What type of sway will online information have on the political process this year? That depends on who's using it, and for what.

On the one hand, 64% of the 2,000 Americans surveyed by the USC Center for the Digital Future agreed that the Internet has become important for political campaigns. That is up from 59% in 2006, when the same question was asked.

More than half of respondents also said that the Internet allows people to better understand politics.

But on the other hand, when it comes to enacting change, small percentages of respondents believed the Internet had an influence. Only 22% believed that the Internet could be used to encourage public officials to care more about what people think.

Less than a third said the Internet gives people more of a say in what the government does.

Agreement that "The Internet gives people more political power" has remained steady for two years at 30%. [eMarketer]