Twitter Can Persuade Youngsters to Vote: Study

The micro-blogging site Twitter can not only help political parties gauge the mood of youngsters but also persuade them to vote as elections approach, says a study.

The study that involved 3,000 Twitter-users aged 18 to 34 in Britain showed that 74 percent of those polled said they would vote in the next election.

While 45 percent said they became interested in or joined a political or social cause via learning from Twitter, 37 percent said they used the site to actively look for information about politics or the British general election, the Guardian reported.

"With more than 78 percent of MPs already on the platform, along with every major news outlet and political party in the country, we know Twitter is where the live conversation about the election is happening," Adam Sharp, Twitter's global head of news, government and elections, was quoted as saying.

While 70 percent said they use Twitter to get information in a "simple to understand" way, 66 percent use it to "get a more honest and unpolished perspective on politics".

Nearly 44 percent said they thought Twitter provided genuinely unbiased coverage.

There are more than 15 million Twitter users in Britain.