Tag: Pew Internet & American Life Project

Health Issues Drive Online Connections

Nearly 20 percent (18%) of U.S. Internet users have gone online to find others with similar health issues, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The number increases to 23 percent among Internet users who are living with a chronic disease.

Still, people overwhelmingly report that health professionals are central for healthcare information. When asked about the last time they had a health issue:

*70% of adults in the U.S. say they received information, care, or support from a health professional.

*54% of adults say they turned to friends and family.

*20% of adults say they turned to others who have the same health condition.

“The Pew Internet Project’s consistent finding – in politics, commerce, health care, and other sectors – is that the internet provides people access not only to information, but also to other people who share their interests,” says Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew Internet Project and author of the report.

“Rare-disease patients’ dispatches from the edge of medicine show an intensified form of networking among patients and caregivers. They search, they network, and, most importantly, they rely on our doctors as guides.”

The report shows shows that most health care conversations occur offline, but when a condition is rare, the internet is a lifeline since it can enable connections across distances and among people who may never have met in person.

February 28, 2011
Republicans And Democrats

Nearly a quarter of Americans used Twitter or social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace in the months leading up to the November, 2010 elections to connect to the campaign or election, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

In contrast to the 2008 race—in which Democratic voters led the way in their use of online social networks for political purposes—Republican voters and supporters of the “Tea Party” movement caught up with Democrats in their use of social media in 2010.

*The “political social media user” group represented by these 22% of internet users voted for Republican congressional candidates over Democratic candidates by a 45%-41% margin.

*Among social networking site users, 40% of Republican voters and 38% of Democratic voters used these sites to get involved politically.

*Tea Party supporters were especially likely to friend a candidate or political group on a social networking site during the 2010 election—22% of such users did this, significantly higher than all other groups.

“The social networking population as a whole has grown larger and demographically more diverse in recent years, and the same is true when it comes to political activity on social networking sites.” said Aaron Smith, a Senior Researcher Specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of the report.

“These platforms are now utilized by politically active individuals of all ages and ideologies to get news, connect with others, and offer their thoughts on the issues that are important to them.”

The main reason Americans follow political groups on social networking sites or Twitter is that it helps them feel more personally connected to the candidates or groups they follow-36 percent say this “major” reason they follow these groups or candidates, and an additional 35% say it is a “minor” reason.

Two-thirds (67%) of those who follow politicians or other political groups on social networking sites or Twitter say that the information posted by those they follow is interesting and relevant, and a similar number say that they pay attention to most (26%) or some (40%) of the material posted by the politicians or groups they follow.

January 27, 2011
Facebook And Twitter Users Are More Active In Groups

The majority (80%) of American Internet users participate in groups, compared with 56 percent of non-Internet users, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants.

Some of the most intense users of technology for group activity are social media users, such as Facebook and Twitter users, and many groups now conduct a portion of their activity on those sites. In this survey, 62% of online adults use social networking sites and 12% use Twitter.

Groups are moving aggressively into social media spaces to connect with members:

*48% of those who are active in groups say that those groups have a page on a social networking site like Facebook

*42% of those who are active in groups say those groups use text messaging

*30% of those who are active in groups say those groups have their own blog

*16% of those who are active in groups say the groups communicate with members through Twitter

“Use of the internet in general, and social media in particular, has become the lubricant for chatter and outreach for all kinds of groups ranging from spiritual communities to professional societies to ad hoc fan clubs,” said Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project and one of the authors of the new report on the findings.

Other Internet impacts:

*46% of the Internet users who are active in groups say the Internet has helped them be active in more groups than would otherwise be the case.

*24% of those active in groups say they discovered at least some of their groups on the Internet. However, three times that number of active group members (75%) did not discover any of the groups they belong to online.

*23% of Internet users say the technology allows them to spend more time with their groups.

“One of the striking things in these data is how purposeful people are as they become active with groups,” noted Kristen Purcell, the research director at Pew Internet and co-author of the report.

“Many enjoy the social dimensions of involvement, but what they really want is to have impact. Most have felt proud of a group they belong to in the past year and just under half say they accomplished something they couldn’t have accomplished on their own.”

January 18, 2011
Wikipedia Marks Tenth Anniversary

To mark the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia that takes place Saturday, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has released data about who uses the site and how its audience has grown over the years.

The percentage of all American adults who use Wikipedia to look for information has increased from 25% in February 2007 to 42% in May 2010. This translates to 53% of adult internet users.

Education level is a strong predictor of Wikipedia use. The online encyclopedia is most popular among Internet users with at least a college degree, 69 percent of whom use the site. Broadband use remains another predictor, as 59% of those with home broadband use the service, compared with 26% of those who connect to the internet through dial-up.

Additionally Pew found, Wikipedia is generally more popular among those with annual household incomes of at least $50,000, as well as with young adults: 62% of internet users under the age of 30 using the service, compared with only 33% of internet users age 65 and older.

When it comes to general online activities, using Wikipedia is more popular than sending instant messages (done by 47% of internet users) or rating a product, service, or person (32%), but is less popular than using social network sites (61%) or watching videos on sites like YouTube (66%).

January 14, 2011
Location-Based Services See Light Use

Four percent of online adults use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location with friends and to find others who are in their area, according to a new report form the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Location-based services such as Foursquare or Gowalla are significantly more popular with younger internet users; eight percent of online adults ages 18-29 use location-based services, significantly more than online adults in any other age group.

Wireless internet users, unsurprisingly, are also more likely to use location-based services, especially those who connect to the internet with their cell phone. Seven percent of all adults who go online with their mobile phone say they use a location-based service, as well as 5% of all wireless internet users.

Pew found location-based services are similar in some ways to status updating services such as Twitter. Status updating services have grown in popularity over the past few years, from 6% of online adults saying they had used such a service in August 2008 to 24% in September 2010.

Internet users who use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace and those who use status-update services such as Twitter also have relatively high levels of location-based service usage:

*Among online adults, 62% use a social networking site such as Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn. Of these social networking site users, 6% use a location-based service.

*24% of online adults use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or to see updates about others. Ten percent of these status update site users use a location-based service, over twice the rate of the general online population.

November 4, 2010
More Than Half Of Americans Do Online Research Before Making A Purchase

More than half (58%) of Americans conduct online research about the products and services they are considering purchasing, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

That is an increase from 49 percent who said they did online research for a product or service in 2004. The number of those who do research about products on an average day has increased from 15 of Americans in September 2007 to 21 percent in September 2010. From February 2004, the number of adults conducting research on any given day has more than doubled, up from 9%.

Additionally, 24% of American adults say they have posted comments or reviews online about the product or services they buy, indicating a willingness to share their opinions about products and the buying experience with others.

“Many Americans begin their purchasing experience by doing online research to compare prices, quality, and the reviews of other shoppers,” said Jim Jansen, Senior Fellow at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of a new report about online product research.

“Even if they end up making their purchase in a store, they start their fact-finding and decision-making on the internet.”

Other highlights from Pew include:

*The percentage of those purchasing products online rose from 36% in May 2000 to 52% in the Project’s May 2010 survey.

*The percentage making travel reservations or bought travel services such as airline tickets, hotel rooms, or rental cars rose from 22% in May 2000 to 52% in the Project’s May 2010 survey.

*Product and service information sharing coincides with increasing use of social networking sites. 46% of Americans reporting the use of internet sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 5% in February 2005.

“E-commerce is now a 360-degree experience for shoppers,” said Jansen. “It begins with research that in turn leads to purchases that then trigger commentary and reviews by shoppers. Every part of the online experience seems to have become second nature to internet veterans.”

September 29, 2010
Mobile Apps Often Go Unused

More than a third (35%) of U.S. adults have applications or “apps” on their phones, yet only 24 percent of adults use those apps, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Many adults who have apps on their phones, particularly older adults, do not use them, and 11 percent of cell owners are not sure if their phone has apps.

Among cell phone owners, 29 percent have downloaded apps to their phones and 13 percent have paid to download apps. . In addition, 38% of adult cell phone users have purchased a phone with pre-loaded apps. That comes to 43% of cell owners who have apps on their phones and 23% of cell owners have both pre-loaded and downloaded apps on their cell phones.

“An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project.

“Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users.”

Apps use does not rank at the top of non-voice cell phone activities people use on the handhelds. More than seven in ten cell owners take pictures on their phones (76%) and use their phones to send/receive text messages (72%).

Among cell phone users with apps, the average adult has 18 apps on his or her phone. Some 18% of cell phone users with apps on their phones do not know how many they have.

Nearly half (47%) of app downloaders have paid for an app, with the rest saying they only download free apps. This means that one in eight adult cell phone users (13%) has paid to download an app, with most paying less than $3.

Cell phone screen real estate is valuable for some users. Majorities of apps users say they organize their apps so that the most frequently used are easily accessible (59%), and that they delete apps from their phones that are not useful or helpful (56%).

Other highlights from the report include:

*Apps users are mostly male (57% male v. 43% female), and are more likely than other adults and other cell phone users to be college graduates (39%) and to have incomes of $75,000 or more (36%).

*18-29 year-olds make up only 23% of the total U.S. adult population but constitute almost half (44%) of the apps using population. In contrast, while 41% of the adult population is age 50 and older, that age group makes up just 14% of apps users.

*52% of 18-29 year-old cell users have downloaded an app, but that figure drops to 31% among 30-49 year-olds and 11% among cell users age 50 and older.

September 14, 2010
Americans Have A Love-Hate Relationship With Their Cell Phones

Texting by American adults has increased significantly over the past year, but still does not approach the level of text messages exchanged by young people, according to a new report from Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of adult cell phone users send and receive text messages now, up from 65 percent in September 2009. The majority (87%) of teen cell users text. Teens text 50 messages a day on average, five times more than the typical 10 text messages sent and received by adults per day.

The majority of African Americans and English-speaking Hispanics own cell phones compared to 80 percent of whites. Twelve percent of African American and 14 percent of English-speaking Hispanics make and receive more than 30 calls a day on their mobile phones. Four percent of whites report placing and receiving that many calls. African American and Hispanic texters typical send and receive 10 texts a day; whites who text typically send and receive 5 texts a day.

“Texting among adults has reached the mainstream and the charge is being lead by African-Americans, Hispanics and young adults,” said Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author the report.

“Of course, none of these adult groups hold a candle to teens when it comes to texting, who swamp adults in messages sent per day by a factor of 5.”

For all of their enthusiasm for texting and talking on their cells, Americans have mixed feelings about the role of the mobile phone in their lives. Most cell users report that their cell phone makes them feel safer (91%), and that they appreciate the way it allows them to arrange plans with family and friends (88% agree.) But mobile phone users also report that they get irritated when a call or text interrupts them (42%) and that they find it rude when others check their phones repeatedly during meetings or conversations (86%).

Other highlights of the report include:

*65% of American adults with cell phones sleep with their phone on or right next to their bed.

*57% of adults with cells report receiving unwanted or spam text messages on their phone.

*90% of parents have a cell phone compared with 72% of adults without children under 18 at home.

September 2, 2010
Older Adults Embracing Twitter And Social Media

Social networking use among Internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May 2010, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Social networking use among Internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88 percent over the past year, from 25 percent in April 2009 to 47 percent in May of 2010. During the same period, use among those 65 and older grew 100 percent from 13 to 26 percent. By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13 percent from 76 percent to 86 percent.

“Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users,” explains Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist for the

Pew

Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of the report.

“Email is still the primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social network platforms to help manage their daily communications.”

The use of social platforms like Twitter has also grown among those ages 50-64. One in ten Internet users 50 and older now say they user Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others.

Other highlights from the report include:

*Just 5% of users ages 50-64 had used Twitter or another status update service in 2009, and 11% now say they use these tools.

*On a typical day, 6% of online adults ages 50-64make Twitter a part of their routine, up from the 1% who did so in 2009.

*Among adults ages 65 and older, 13% log on to social networking sites on a typical day, compared with just 4% who did so in 2009.

“Social media has the potential to bridge generational gaps. There are few other spaces—online or offline—where tweens, teens, sandwich generation members, grandparents, friends and neighbors regularly intersect and communicate across the same network,” said Madden.

August 27, 2010
Broadband Adoption In The U.S. Slows

The adoption of broadband Internet access slowed significantly over the last year, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Two-thirds of Americans (66%) now have a broadband connection at home, a number that is little changed from the 63 percent with a high-speed home connection at a similar point in 2009.

Most demographic groups experienced flat-to-modest broadband adoption growth over the last year. The notable exception to this trend came among African-Americans, who experienced 22% year-over-year broadband adoption growth.

*In 2009 65% of whites and 46% of African-Americans were broadband users

*In 2010 67% of whites and 56% of African-Americans are broadband users

By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority.

Asked in a national phone survey by Pew if expanding affordable high-speed Internet access to everyone in the country should be a top priority for the federal government, important but a lower priority, not too important, or should it no be done, a majority of Americans chose the latter two options:

*26% of Americans say that expansion of affordable broadband access should not be attempted by government

*27% said it was "not too important" a priority

*30% said it was an important priority

*11% said it should be a top priority

While younger users (those under age 30) and African-Americans are the most likely to favor expanded government efforts, those who are not currently online are especially resistant to government involvement in broadband promotion. Fully 45% of non-users say government should not attempt to make affordable broadband available to everyone, while just 5% of those who don’t use the Internet say broadband access should be a top federal government priority.

"As broadband technologies have been adopted in the majority of American homes, a debate has arisen about the role of government in stepping in to ensure availability to high-speed internet access for all Americans," said Senior Research Specialist Aaron Smith, author of the Pew Internet Project’s new report.

"The majority think not, and the surprise is that non-users are the least inclined to think government has a role in the spread of broadband. It could be that the recession is causing Americans to prioritize other issues, or it could be general anti-government wariness. It could also stem from the fact that not many non-users are anxious to see government promoting technologies that they view as difficult to use and offering uncertain benefits"

August 11, 2010
Millennials Won

Millennials are expected to make online sharing a lifelong habit, according to new research from Pew Internet and Elon University.

In an online survey of 895 technology stakeholders and critics, 67 percent agreed with the following statement:

"By 2020, members of Generation Y (today’s "digital natives") will continue to be ambient broadcasters who disclose a great deal of personal information in order to stay connected and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities. Even as they mature, have families, and take on more significant responsibilities, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will carry forward."

Some 29 percent agreed with the opposite statement:

"By 2020, members of Generation Y (today’s "digital natives") will have "grown out" of much of their use of social networks, multiplayer online games and other time-consuming, transparency-engendering online tools. As they age and find new interests and commitments, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will abate."

Most of those surveyed believed the sharing of personal information online has many social benefits as people open up to others in order to build friendships, form and find communities, seek help, and build their reputations. They said Millennials have already seen the benefits and will not reduce their use of these social tools over the next decade as they take on more responsibilities while growing older.

"The majority noted that new social norms that reward disclosure are already in place among the young," said Pew Internet Director Lee Rainie.

"Some experts also expressed hope that society will be more forgiving of those whose youthful mistakes are on display in social media such as Facebook picture albums or YouTube videos."

Nearly 30% of respondents said the abundant sharing of personal information on social networks by young people will fade, most of them noting that life stages and milestones do matter and do prompt changes in behavior.

Among other things, many of the dissenting experts also said Millennials will not have as much time in the future to devote to popular activities such as frequently posting to the world at large on YouTube, Twitter or Facebook about the details of their lives.

"Some of the experts said an awkward trial-and-error period is unfolding and will continue over the next decade, as people adjust to new realities about how social networks perform and as new boundaries are set about the personal information that is appropriate to share," said Janna Anderson, director of the Imagining the Internet Center and a co-author of the study.

July 11, 2010
Wireless Internet Access Becoming More Widespread

Cell phone and wireless laptop Internet use have each grown more widespread over the last year, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Nearly half of all adults (47%) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card (up from the 39% who did so as of April 2009) while 40% of adults use the Internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009)

The report found the use of application not related to making calls has grown significantly over the last year. Compared with a similar point in 2009, cell phone owners are now more likely to use their mobile phones to:

*Take pictures-76% now do this, up from 66% in April 2009

*Send or receive text messages-72% vs. 65%

*Access the Internet-38% vs. 25%

*Play games-34% vs. 27%

*Send or receive email-34% vs. 25%

*Record a video-34% vs. 19%

*Play music-33% vs. 21%

*Send or receive instant messages-30% vs. 20%

"The growing functionality of mobile phones makes them ever-more powerful devices for on-the-go communications and computing," said Aaron Smith, Research Specialist and the author of the Pew Internet Project report.

"Cell phones have become for many owners an all-purpose chat-text-gaming-photo-sharing media hub that is an essential utility for work and a really fancy toy for fun."

African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos continue to be among the most active users of the mobile web. Cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners use a much wider range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users. In total, 64% of African-Americans access the Internet from a laptop or mobile phone, a seven-point increase from the 57% who did so at a similar point in 2009.

Young adults (those ages 18-29) are also heavy users of mobile applications, but older adults are gaining fast. Compared with 2009, cell phone owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use their mobile device to send text messages, access the internet, take pictures, record videos, use email or instant messaging, and play music.

"The mobile user population is becoming more diverse over time and more people are relying on their cell phones as their primary form of wireless connectivity," said Smith.

"Even as laptops have become more commonplace in recent years, significant numbers of young adults and minority Americans are relying on a cell phone as their on-ramp to the mobile web."

Other highlights from the report include:

*More than half of cell phone Internet users (55%) go online from their mobile phone on a daily basis.

*Most wireless laptop users go online wirelessly at home, but six in ten wireless laptop users go online from multiple locations. One in five (20%) do so from home, work and somewhere other than home or work.

*Laptop computers are now nearly as common as desktop computers-55% of American adults own a laptop computer, just below the 62% who own a desktop machine. In the past year, laptop ownership among African-Americans has risen dramatically (51% of African-American adults now own a laptop computer).

July 7, 2010
Will Social Media Improve Life In the Future?

The social benefits of Internet use will outweigh the negatives over the next decade, according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University.

While most respondents reported the Internet has both positive and negative effects, 85 percent said it has improved their own social relations and will continue to do so through 2020.

Some 85% agreed with the statement:

"In 2020, when I look at the big picture and consider my personal friendships, marriage and other relationships, I see that the Internet has mostly been a positive force on my social world. And this will only grow more true in the future. "

The majority of the people surveyed said the Internet allows people to create and grow bigger social networks than they had been able to have in pre-Internet days. They said they like the advantages offered by the easy sharing of personal details in a one-to-many form that they can control. They said that over the next decade people will continue to invest themselves in building communities via these personal broadcasts.

Some survey participants pointed out that geography is no longer an obstacle and the Internet is also eliminating some or all of the constraints of time and cost when it comes to human connection and sharing.

In addition, some participants said technology will continue to change how we live our lives at home and at work, and that "virtual friends" in more developed social networks will become more common in the future. They said the definitions of "privacy" and "friendship" are changing.

Some 14 percent pointed out the negatives of the connections people are generating online. These included observations that people lose time online that could be spent in face-to-face relationships; social networks can be a distraction; online relationships are not deep and meaningful; the Internet allows people to silo themselves and incite more intolerance.

Here are some responses by those surveyed by Pew:

"The internet has actually helped with human interaction by providing a wider range of ways to communicate such as Twitter and Facebook. These allow some interactions that are better not done face-to-face. And the internet frees up more time for social interaction by making things like shopping faster." William Webb, head of research and development, Ofcom

"Both answers are true. Spending more time online and being more wired to each other via various devices comes at the expense of real-time, deep, meaningful human interaction. But, when you’re really busy and don’t have enough time to see, call or visit with friends it’s nice to use the social networking tools to be better able to keep tabs on or ‘give tabs to’ people in your social network." -Joshua Freeman, director of interactive services, Columbia University Information Technology

July 2, 2010
Adults And Teens Equally Likely To Text While Driving

American adults are just as likely to have texted while driving as teenagers and are significantly more likely than teens to have talked on their cell phones while driving, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

More than a quarter (27%) of American adults say they have texted while driving, about the same proportion as the number of teens (26%) who say they have texted while driving.

Nearly two-thirds (61%) of adults say they have talked on their cell phones while they were behind the wheel. That is significantly higher than the number of 16 and 17 year olds (43%) who have talked on their cells while driving. In addition, 49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone. Overall, 44% of adults say they have been passengers of drivers who used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

Besides driving, 17 percent of adults have been so distracted while talking or texting that they have physically bumped into another person or object. That amounts to 14 percent of all American adults who have been so engaged in talking or texting that they have bumped into something or someone.

"While previous research has shown that one in four teen drivers text at the wheel, this data suggests that adults are now just as likely to engage in this risky behavior" said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist at the Internet & American Life Project and co-author of the report.

"Adults may be the ones sounding the alarm on the dangers of distracted driving, but they don’t always set the best example themselves."

Other findings from the report include:

*82 percent of American adults now own cell phones and 58 percent send or receive text messages.

*51 percent of men who use text messaging say they have sent or read messages while driving compared to 42 percent of women who have done the same.

*While 59% of texting Millennials (ages 18-33) say they have sent or read messages at the wheel, 50% of text-using Gen Xers (ages 34-45) and 29% of texting Baby Boomers (ages 46-64) report the same.

"It is just as hard for adults as it is for teenagers to resist chatting with friends and sending off that quick text even in the midst of heavy traffic," said Lee Rainie, Director of the Internet & American Life Project and co-author of the distractions report.

"Constant mobile connectivity to friends, family and colleagues is a hallmark of age and it is hard to resist even in situations where it would seem smart to stay focused on the task at hand."

June 18, 2010
More Americans Going Online To Connect Locally

More Americans are using online tools as a way to connect to their neighbors and local communities, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Nearly a quarter (22%) of all adults (representing 28% of Internet users) have singed up to receive alerts about local issues such as traffic, weather alerts, school events and crime alerts via email or text messaging.

Twenty percent of all adults (27% of Internet users) used digital tools to talk to their neighbors and keep informed about community issues.

Overall, physical personal encounters are still the main way people stay informed about community issues.

In the year before the survey Pew found:

*46% of Americans talked face-to-face with neighbors about community issues

*21% discussed community issues over the phone

*9% exchanged emails with neighbors about community issues and 5 % say they belong to a community email listserv

*4% communicated with neighbors by text messaging

*4% joined a social networking site group connected to community issues

*2% followed neighbors using Twitter

June 10, 2010
More Americans Watching And Sharing Online Video

More than two-thirds (69%) of adult Internet users have used the Internet to watch or download video, representing 52 percent of all adults in the U.S., according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Fifty percent of adult Internet users have viewed a comedy video online, up from 31 percent in 2007, and 38 percent have watched an educational video up from 22 percent.

Thirty-two percent of adult Internet users have watched movies or TV shows online up from 16 percent three years ago.

Political videos have also increased in popularity. Thirty percent have watched political videos online, up from 15 percent in 2007.

"We are seeing a surge in online video watching that is driven by a combination of broadband access, the increasing use of social networking sites, and the popularity of video-sharing sites," explains Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and author of the report.

"To tap into these trends, untold numbers of websites now showcase online video as part of their content."

Home video is the most popular content posted online, shared by 62 percent of video uploaders. Uploaders are just as likely to share video on social networking sites like Facebook (52% do this) as they are on more specialized video-sharing sites like YouTube (49% do this).

While video-sharing is growing in popularity, adult internet users have mixed feelings about how much they want to share. While 31% of uploaders say they "always" place restrictions on who can access their videos, 50% say they "never" restrict access. The remaining 19% fall somewhere in the middle.

"People are increasingly enthusiastic about the opportunity to share their own video content online, but there’s a lot of variation in terms of how people control access to the videos they post, who they think is watching, and concern about how their video might be used," said Purcell.

The survey found among video uploaders, there is almost universal appreciation for the ease with which video-sharing sites allow them to share video with family and friends. But a considerable number (35%) also feel they should be more careful about what they post. And while 39% of uploaders express the belief that only people they know will see the videos they post, an equal number (41%) say they are surprised by the number of people who watch their videos. Another 28% say that sharing videos online has helped them meet new people.

June 4, 2010
More Americans Going Online For Government Information

More Americans are turning to government agencies websites for information, according to new research from Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Some 40 percent of Internet users have gone online for raw data about government spending and activities.

Online activities related to the government include:

*23% of Internet users have gone online to see how federal stimulus money is being spent

*22% have read or downloaded the text of legislation

*16% have visited a site such as data.gov that provides access to government data

*14% have gone online to see who is contributing to the campaigns of elected officials

"Government interactions in the information age are often fueled by data," said Aaron Smith, a research specialist at Pew and author of the report.

"Online citizens can-and often do-‘go to the source’ in their efforts to monitor government activities, evaluate the impacts of new legislation, and track the flow of their tax dollars."

The report also found 31 percent of online adults have used social media such as blogs, social networking sites, and online video as well as email and text alerts to keep up to date about government activities.

Minorities are just as likely as whites to use social media to keep up with the government, and are more likely to agree that government outreach using these channels make government more accessible and helps people be more informed about what government agencies are doing.

"Just as social media and just-in-time applications have changed the way Americans get information about current events or health information, they are now changing how citizens interact with elected officials and government agencies," said Smith.

"People are not only getting involved with government in new and interesting ways, they are also using these tools to share their views with others and contribute to the broader debate around government policies."

April 27, 2010
Teen Texting Sees Sharp Increase
Cell-phone texting has become the preferred form of basic communication between teens and their friends, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Daily text messaging among teens has increased in the past 18 months from 38 percent of teens texting friends daily in 2008, to 54 percent of teens texting daily in 2009. The average teen sends and receives 50 or more messages per day, or 1,500 per month.

Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day while girls send and receive 80 messages per day. Older girls are the most active texters, with 14-17 year old girls sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.

While many teens are avid texters, a small number are not. One-fifth of teen texters (22%) send and receive just 1-10 texts a day or 30-300 a month.

"The widespread availability of unlimited texting plans has transformed communication patterns of American teens, many of whom now conduct substantial portions of their daily conversations with their friends via texting," said Amanda Lenhart, Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and a co-author on the report.

"But what’s important to remember here is that this is a shift in the location and style of teens’ communication with friends, not necessarily a radical change or expansion of it."

The survey found 75 percent of those ages 12-17 now have cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. These cell phone users place calls on their phone much less often than texting. On average tens make about five calls per day on cells. They still to prefer to deal with their parents by calling them instead of texting them.

Pew also found teens uses their cells for a variety of activities besides texting and talking including:
- 83% use their phones to take pictures.
- 64% share pictures with others.
- 60% play music on their phones.
- 46% play games on their phones.
- 32% exchange videos on their phones.
- 31% exchange instant messages on their phones.
- 27% go online for general purposes on their phones.
- 23% access social networking sites on their phones.
- 21% use email on their phones.
- 11% purchase things via their phones.
April 20, 2010
Internet Access Vital For Those With Chronic Disease

Only 62 percent of adults living with chronic disease go online, compared with 81 percent of adults with no chronic diseases, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"We can now add chronic disease to the list of attributes which have an independent, negative effect on someone’s likelihood to have Internet access, along with age, education, and income level," says Kristen Purcell, an associate director of the Pew Internet Project and a co-author of the report.

The Internet access gap creates an online health information gap. More than any other group, people living with chronic disease are strongly connected to offline sources of medical information and assistance such as health professionals, friends, family, and books. Once they have Internet access, people living with chronic disease report significant benefits from the health resources found online.

Overall, 51 percent of American adults living with chronic disease have looked online for health information about a specific disease, a certain medical procedure, or health insurance. By comparison, 66 percent of adults who have no chronic conditions use the Internet to gather health information.

Lack of Internet access, not lack of interest in the topic, is the main reason for the gaps. Pew says when demographic factors are controlled, Internet users living with chronic disease are slightly more likely than other Internet users to access health information online.

"The deck is stacked against people living with chronic disease. They are disproportionately offline. They often have complicated health issues, not easily solved by the addition of even the best, most reliable, medical advice," says Susannah Fox, an associate director of the Pew Internet Project and a co-author of the report.

"But those who are online have a trump card. They have each other. Those who have access use the internet like a secret weapon, unearthing and sharing nuggets of information found online."

March 26, 2010
Americans Favor Online News Over Newspapers

The Internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio, according to a new survey out today.

The survey of 2,259 U.S. adults, conducted jointly by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism, found 59 percent of respondents gets news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day.

The Internet and mobile technologies are at the center of how people’s relationship to news is changing. One-third (33%) of cell phone owners now access news on their mobile phones and more than a quarter (28%) of Internet users have customized their homepage to include news from sources and topics that are of interest to them.

Nearly forty percent (37%) of Internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or shared it via postings on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

In addition, people use their social networks to filter, assess, and react to news. They use traditional email and other tools to exchange stories and comment on them. Among those who get news online, 75 percent get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52 percent share links to news the same way.

The survey also found the typical online news consumer routinely uses just a handful of news sites and does not have a particular favorite. Overall, Americans have mixed feelings about this "new" news environment. Over half (55%) say it is easier to keep up with news and information today than it was five years ago, but 70 percent feel the amount of news and information available from different sources is overwhelming.

"Americans have become news grazers both on and offline – but within limits," said Amy Mitchell, deputy director for the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"They generally don’t have one favorite website but also don’t search aimlessly. Most online news consumers regularly draw on just a handful of different sites."

March 1, 2010
Experts Agree The Internet Will Make Us Smarter

The Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Internet Center at Elon University teamed up to survey 895 experts about the future of the Internet and its affect on human intelligence.

"Three out of four experts said our use of the Internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the Internet has improved reading, writing and rendering of knowledge," said Janna Anderson, study co-author and director of the Imagining the Internet Center.

"There are still many people, however, who are critics of the impact of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools."

Two-thirds of those surveyed said reading and writing skills and the rendering of knowledge will be improved by 2020 due to the influence of the Internet.

Eighty percent of the experts agreed that "hot gadgets and applications that will capture the imagination of users in 2020 will often come ‘out of the blue."’

The experts were fairly divided on whether anonymous online activity will exist in 2020, with nearly 40 percent predicting that anonymous Internet users will have their access sharply decreased.

"The privacy and civil liberties battles over the next decade will increasingly focus on the growing demands for identity credentials," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"New systems for authentication will bring new problems, as more identity information will create new opportunities for criminals."

On the issue of an open Internet in the future, nearly two-thirds said the Internet will remain as its founder envisioned.

More than a third chose to agree with the statement "the Internet will mostly become a technology where intermediary institutions that control the architecture and content will be successful in gaining the right to manage information and the method by which people access it."

February 21, 2010