Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project opened the conference, as he did last year, giving us a lot of statistics and annecdotes about how Americans are, and are not, using the Internet. (He mentioned that some times when he presents the screens are showing a live IRC chat about his talk, as he’s giving it. Unfortunately, this was not done at this event.)
- 68% of adults & 86% of teenagers are Internet users.
- Broadband has surpassed the 50% mark at home.
- More than 2/3rds have broadband somewhere in their life (work, school, etc.)
- Cold: 1/5 of adults have never used the Internet. (Some by choice, some by circumstances.)
- Tepid: Dual-up users of today are less likely to upgrade to broadband in the future
- Hot: “Hyperconnected to the net”
- What are people doing: email, IM, news, finances, games, seeking help, interacting with their governemnt
- Chatroom use is declining due to hostile environment and other onling groups, i.e. blogs and live meetings
- Teens (12-17):
- more connected than ever
- love IM
- Nuts about cell phone, especially with text messaging and cameras
- Physicall proximity, time of day, and venue matters less and less
- Enjoy playing around with their identities (the facebook)
- Live in a world that’s saturated in media
- 8 out of 10 play online games, 54% growth in four years
- 43% have bought something online. 71% growth in four years
- Health information use if growing also
- Teens are media creators themselves. (report coming out in the next few weekds)
- 19% have created their own blogs. Higher than in the adult population
- “Finatic multitaskers”
- Skeptic about advertising, yet just another input to be assessed for value
- Politics
- Internet rivals newsletters and rivals tv among younger users
- Internet is improving “social capital” i.e. social engagement & civic ties
- Using the Net for policical news makes you more likely to vote
- Concern: would people use online tools to isoloate themselves from their world/political views? Answer is no. Use of Net tools improves awareness and increases likeliness of researching opposing views
- “Major Moments”
- Crucial or important role with college searching, illnesses, financial decisions
- Also crucial when getting married or divorced
- Some companies doing “E-mail Free Fridays”
- Four trends: more people and things connected to the Internet, more people are accessing the Internet fomr mobile devices, content creation will continue to grow, increased social aspects of searching
- “The Long Tail”
- “Smart Mobs” (Howard Rheingold) suggest new social groups are emerging
- Modern life is charactized by “continuous patrial attention” (always scanning for the “one best thing”)
