PJNet » Pew

Pew: 35% of Online USA Adults Have Social Network Profiles

Leonard Witt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:26:37 +0000

“The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s December 2008 tracking survey.”

That’s from a Pew press release. Here is more:

Most adults, like teens, are using online social networks to connect with people they already know.

See the whole report here.

Should Countries Have Right to Control Internet Content?

Leonard Witt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:25:09 +0000

When the Pew Internet & American Life Project did a survey sampling 15 percent of “hundreds of government, industry leaders and internet activists from around the planet,” they learned that 59 percent of them disagreed with this statement:

“My country should have the right to approve the internet content available to the people of my country.”

That’s the good news, the bad news is the 28 percent thought countries should have the right to approve Internet content.

That’s just one of many questions asked of participants who had attended the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro back in November and were surveyed afterwards. Another questions asked: Should there be a Global Internet Bill of Rights?

Here’s the answer:

Some 66% of those participating in this survey agreed with the statement: “A global
internet users’ Bill of Rights should be adopted.” Only 6% disagreed.

Pew: Obama Has Internet Edge Among Youth

Leonard Witt — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:24:10 +0000

Pew Internet & American Life Project releases interesting findings about how the public is using the Internet and mobile devices in this Presidential election year — and Barack Obama has an advantage. According the report’s press release:

A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. And Barack Obama’s backers have an edge in the online political environment.

Here is more:

Led by young voters, Democrats and Obama supporters have taken the lead in their use of online tools for political engagement.

74% of wired Obama supporters have gotten political news and information online, compared with 57% of online Clinton supporters.

In a head-to-head matchup with internet users who support Republican McCain, Obama’s backers are more likely to get political news and information online (65% vs. 56%).

Obama supporters outpace both Clinton and McCain supporters in their usage of online video, social networking sites and other online campaign activities.

Here is general information about youth, the Internet and mobile devices in this election year:

Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns…

Young voters are helping to define the online political debate; 12% of online 18-29 year olds have posted their own political commentary or writing to an online newsgroup, website or blog.

And this:

35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos–a figure that nearly triples the reading the Pew Internet Project got in the 2004 race.

Read the full report here.

Digital Divide Alive and Well

Leonard Witt — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:44:10 +0000

Pew Internet & American Life Project just a released a new survey about Parent and Teenager Internet Use, but the statistic that struck me the most was:

Of parents who live in households earning more than $75,000 a year, 98% report that they use the internet. At the lowest end of the household income spectrum (people who earn $30,000 or less), 60% of parents report that they go online.

And this:

White parents are more likely to report using the internet than black parents. Fully 88% of white parents say they use the internet at least occasionally, compared with 72% of black parents. Hispanic parents who speak English fall in between white and black parents, with 84% saying that they use the internet at least occasionally. Of the parents that use the internet, there are no statistically significant differences in terms of frequency of use according to race.

I am reminded of an earlier post, in which I wrote:

Andy Carvin of the Digital Divide Network…. says since more people are online in all socio economic sectors, the false assumption is that soon everyone will be online. Unfortunately that will not be true for a small segment of the population. As everything goes online from government services to education, they will be left out.

Pew: Hobbyists Flock to Internet Sites

Leonard Witt — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:23:03 +0000

This from a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey report:

A telephone survey conducted in February-March 2007 found that fully 83% of online Americans say they have used the internet to seek information about their hobbies and 29% do so on a typical day. Looking for information about hobbies is among the most popular online activities, on par with shopping, surfing the web for fun, and getting news…

Men, internet users under age 50, and those with home broadband connections are among the most likely groups to pursue their hobbies online.

The full report can be found here. So as I work on my Representative Journalism concept, I wonder to myself how deep are these interests. Would these hobbyist, 29% of whom are checking out their interests each day, be willing to pay for every deeper information suited especially to their interests? I keep thinking yes.