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Video: What to expect from Thursday FCC meeting on net neutrality.

Dante Chinni is the director of theAmerican Communities Project at American University, which examines different types of communities across the U.S.

Washingtons net neutrality debate checks a lot of boxes. It is, depending on what you read, about corporate revenues, the future of the Internet and/or free speech. And it involves Internet service providers, tech companies and entertainment giants. In short, it essentially affects every American living on the grid.

But it directly (and noticeably) affects some more than others particularly younger Americans who like to download and stream entertainment, for instance and the way those effects shake out brings a political dimension to the debate.

Data from Experian Marketing Services show that as of October 2013, 48% of all U.S, adults watch some form streaming or downloaded video in a typical week. But if you look at younger adults, those under 35, the number is 67%.

As polling data show, younger voters tend to be more liberal, and that distinction carries through to the world of streamers. Self-described liberals are far more likely to have used Netflix or Hulu over the past 30 days 24% say they have. That number is 18% for self-described middle-of-the-road voters and 16% for conservatives.

The data for so-called cord-cutters, those who have high-speed Internet connections, but no cable or satellite TV subscription, has a similar political breakdown. The numbers for cord-cutters is still small, about 6.5% of U.S. households according to Experian Marketing Services. But again, its higher among self-described liberals, about 7% and lower among conservatives, at about 5.6%.

What does it all mean in the context of the FCC net neutrality debate? That could be harder to predict. Maybe 20- and 30-somethings will appreciate that their episodes of Orange in the New Black will stream more smoothly in a faster lane through their Internet Service Provider.

But there are costs as well. Netflix, for instance, has already announced an increase in its monthly fee by a dollar, in part to help pay for new interconnection deals that allow for better streaming on Verizon and Comcast networks.

The real impact may be that younger voters finally have a reason top engage in politics in a midterm year something that is always an issue, as we wrote recently here. In any case, politician Frank Underwood, Kevin Spaceys murderous Netflix villain, will play a central role.

Read the original here:
Politics Counts: Liberals Stream More Than Conservatives