iEntry 10th Anniversary RSS Newsletter Advertising
Join the WebProWorld Forum!
Text: Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size | Print Print Article | Share: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Post to Twitter Post to Facebook
CommentMonday, May 7, 2007

Web 2.0? Nearly Half Just Say No

The Pew Internet & American Life Project's latest report said that while 8 percent of Americans have embraced advanced information and communication technology (ICT), 49 percent have little to no interest in it. Interactivity just isn't an activity for a lot of people. Despite the prevalence of technology and the availability of relatively inexpensive computers and Internet access, there are plenty of people who just say no to the Web 2.0 drug.

Pew Internet researcher John Horrigan said in his report, titled 'A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users', four groups of people with "few technology assets" make up 49 percent of Americans.

"Modern gadgetry is at or near the periphery of their daily lives," he wrote. "Some find it useful, others don’t, and others simply stick to the plain old telephone and television."

Plain old telephone and television? In a time where Skype can make a voice connection with just about anyone, and network TV websites post their content in clip and full-length form? Apparently so.

That 8 percent at the top of Horrigan's list, the "omnivores" of technology, have all kinds of gadgets and services. They blog and Twitter and network professionally and socially, all online. The report found most of them are in their 20s and have high-speed Internet connections at home and/or work.

There is a temptation to call this a "digital divide," but that's not entirely accurate. Early adopters exist within each age group; the divide is probably more of a time/comfort one. Today's twenty-something omnivores will become extremely time-crunched thirty-somethings as things like marriage, kids, careers, mortgages, insurance, car payments, and other facts of life erode their free time for gadgetry.

Right now, those twenty-somethings are prime online marketing opportunities, an unsurprising revelation for Internet and offline marketers. Reach for them while they are young.

News Tags: Internet, Web 2.0, Americans, Web, Pew

Publish A Comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 12 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
SEARCH
Popular WPN Business Resources












Subscribe to WebProNews


Send me relevant info