Reading this on your iPhone? You're a Dem. (Desktop? Probably GOP)
Market research firm Scarborough has data that suggest all kinds of relationships between your Internet use and your political beliefs.
You are what you do. And what you do reveals your political beliefs.
The data world would like to believe that, at least. And, given that it's performing a silent, but deadly takeover of the world, let's see what one data analysis reveals about your politics.
The market research firm Scarborough is possessed of all kinds of numbers that might ultimately define humanity.
Some of its data was examined closely by Will Feltus and Tracey Robinson at National Media, Research, Planning and Placement. This is an advertising company that leans to the right.
As the Washington Post reports, what they found was distinct patterns in Internet usage that separated Democrats and Republicans.
The analysis was divided up into quadrants. What fascinating quadrants they are.
In the area of high-turnout voters who skew Democrat, the most popular use of and for the Internet was for local/community events, podcasts, traffic, restaurant info, cable TV online, and local radio.
You might decide that this matches your own vision of ardent Democrats as do-gooding, community-spirited foodies.
The high-turnout Republicans, however, are a different breed. They use the Web for sports scores, financial information, travel reservations, auction sites, local news, consumer reviews, maps, banking, search and, um, blogs.
This might confirm your own view of Republicans as money-obsessed, sports-watching, community-ignoring materialists.
Some might conclude that just their reading of blogs presents them as far more worldly and well-rounded than their opponents.
Everything gets a touch more complicated when it comes to the low-turnout voters on either side.
Their use of mobile far exceeds that of their high counterparts. The low-turnout Republicans use mobile for the same sorts of purposes as the high-turnout Republicans.
The low-turnout Democrats, however, use mobile for shopping, social networking, music, and watching videos.
When it comes to desktop, there are a few areas which low-turn-outers of both parties have in common: IM, videos, and daily deals.
How does this all bring hope to one or the other party for the future?
Should you be of the Democratic persuasion, try hoping that, in the future, all elections will be enacted through social-networking apps on mobile. Who on earth wants to go to a physical place to vote any more?
Should you be of a Republican leaning, however, you should pat yourself on the back that you have far more interest in national and local news and therefore are far more au fait with what is going on in the world. The future is, therefore, yours.
Of course, all data has its limitations.
If this data is to be believed, Democrats don't bother using the Web to get their news at all. Can this possibly be true?