AOL Members Declare: 'You've Got Results!' as Members Vote Offline and Follow Election Returns Online.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2002

Members Sound Off on 2002 Elections as Close Mid-Term Elections Result

in Record Usage Across the AOL Service

Millions of Members Play Pundit and Correctly Call 8 out of 10 Key

U.S. Senate Races in a Special Weekend Election Straw Poll 

In one of the most closely fought and most anticipated midterm elections in history, members turned to AOL and established record usage across the service, while correctly picking the winners in 8 of the 10 most closely fought U.S. Senate elections.

AOL members - in the run up to the Election - set record periods of usage of the AOL service, with records set in just about every category of usage, including hours spent online on AOL, number of online AOL sessions, simultaneous members logged onto AOL, and Web sites visited.

Election Day capped three straight days of robust usage across the AOL service. The activity began on Saturday - as droves of members voted in AOL's special localized online straw polls conducted in the ten states where the elections were the expected to be the closest. AOL members picked their favorites for Senate and Governor, made their choices clear on major ballot initiatives and spoke their minds on the issues that matter most to them. AOL members correctly picked the victors in Senate races in Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Iowa. The online momentum continued through to election day and night.

Over the three day period leading up to and including Election Day, AOL members:

-- visited more Web sites than ever before, with a record 14.5 billion web URLs served to members on Sunday alone;

-- spent more time online with AOL: 42 million hours each day;

-- had more sessions online: 200 million over the three-day period;

-- had 2.75 million AOL members simultaneously online at the same time on Election Night, chatting, looking up election issues, researching candidates' records, surveying election results, and more

-- 2.4 million members participated in AOL election polls

-- 300,000 members logged onto AOL message boards to post their opinions and interact with other members throughout election night .

-- At one point in the evening, nearly 19,000 members were participating in a live election eve chat on AOL Live with top political reporters from CNN, CBS, and Fox.

Separetely, users of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) established a new record for the web-based product. AIM users exchanged over 1 billion messages on Election day and night.

"Election 2002 was another banner event for the Internet, AOL, and politics as once again voters turned to the online medium as a resource not only to learn, but also to interact with others and make their opinions heard on the choices they face," said Lewis Dvorkin, AOL's Vice President of content strategy. "As the election drew near with so many races coming down to the wire, our members really took advantage of the localized content and advanced interactive features, like alerts reminding them to vote, online polling and message boards and the opportunity to participate in a live online forum with Senate leaders and top political reporters."

AOL's Election Guide 2002 is a virtual "campaign headquarters" where voters can get the information they need to stay informed on the issues in the midterm election through AOL's affiliation with some of the most reliable news and information sources in the country, including the League of Women Voters', CNN, TIME, and Capitol Advantage. Located at AOL Keyword: Election, this interactive resource features a zip code driven, personalized approach that makes it easier for members to find out where their candidates stand on the issues that matter the most to them.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.