The death of political ads on TV approaches as more people turn to the internet for media

If you're planning to go into politics, don't ignore the internet and what an incredibly powerful tool it is. The internet is not only essential, it is a crucial multiplier of force, allowing a candidate to maximize limited financial resources.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The internet is a powerful tool in politics, in fact, it is essential. The days of media appearances and rousing speeches carrying a politician into office are over. Now it's about profiling and carefully targeting the right people with a precise message that will elicit response.

President Obama did this in his campaign against Romney, allowing him to eke out a decisive edge over his Republican rival. In the next election, the candidate that leverages the internet least effectively will probably lose.

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A study from the USC Annenberg School's Center for the Digital Future shows startling trends among Americans that can change everything we think about the campaign process.

Between 2002 and 2012, about fifty percent of TV viewers have left television and moved to consume their media online instead of television.

A full 75 percent of internet users agree that the internet is important in the campaign process. Over a third agree that the internet can increase a candidate's political power. Of course, that means two thirds are yet to realize the power of the internet to influence a campaign.

Television has long been the primary theater of operations for political campaigns, but more viewers are moving to the internet and away from television. Within a matter of years, television will be severely diminished as people turn to on-demand programming, in part to avoid commercial advertising.

This means that political candidates will need to find where their voters are going and engage them there. This is only possible by developing robust apps and advertising campaigns which reach voters online.

For Catholics, this is important because Catholics are an essential voting bloc. Approximately 20 percent of all Americans identify as Catholic and that number is growing. Politicians will want to reach Catholics on pages like, Catholic.org, where millions of unique monthly visitors come to spend time in prayer, to study and learn, and to read the news.

In 2012, Obama was elected in part because he managed to engage the Catholic voting bloc better than Romney via the internet. Aware of this fact, many Church leaders were dismayed since Obama is also an open anti-life candidate. Still, Catholics vote based on a variety of issues, not just abortion. Obama did a better job engaging those voters than Romney did and in Ohio, they won him the state. Obama could not have won without the Catholic vote and he could not have earned that vote without engaging people where they were. Now, in 2014, even mor epeople are moving to the online and mobile environment to consume media and stay informed.

Other findings of the study were reported by the AP. Here's a list of some of the study's other conclusions.

(Via AP)

- 41 percent of Internet users said that most or all of the information online is reliable. That is the lowest level reported in the Digital Future studies since 2009, when it was 39 percent.

- 75 percent said most or all of the information on the sites they visit regularly is reliable and accurate

- but that percentage is the lowest to date of all the Digital Future studies.

- 31 percent of adults said the children in their household spend too much time online. That's one percentage point below the high of 32 percent in 2012.

- 56 percent of Internet users are concerned about companies checking what they do online, while 46 percent are worried about the government checking what they do online.

- 79 percent of adults who use the Internet make purchases online. And 60 percent said that online purchases reduced their buying in traditional retail stores.

- 47 percent of respondents age 18 and older who have a credit card are very concerned or extremely concerned about credit card security when buying online. That's up from 44 percent in 2012 but down from 71 percent in 2001.

- 11 percent of Internet users said they have been harassed or bullied online.

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