UNFINISHED SYMPHONY: What we don’t know about the future of the internet

UNFINISHED SYMPHONYWhat we don’t know about the future of the internet

Lee RainieDirector – Pew Internet ProjectIGF- US Washington, DC10.2.09

Pew Internet & American Life Project – September 2009 survey

Age

93%83%

77%

43%

79%69%

61%

29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

18-29 30-49 50-64 65+

% o

f adu

lts

Internet users Broadband at home


Race and ethnicity

80%72%

61%67%

51%43%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Whites Blacks Hispanics

% o

f a

du

lts


Community type

77% 75%

65%63% 64%

42%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Suburban Urban Rural

% o

f ad

ult

s


Pew Internet & American Life Project – April 2009 survey


Household income

62%

84%93% 95%

41%

67%

83%88%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

<$30K $30-$50K $50K-$75K $75K+

% o

f a

du

lts



Educational attainment

37%

72%

87%94%

25%

54%

71%

84%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

<High school HS diploma Some college College degree +

% o

f ad

ult

s


Pew Internet & American Life Project – December 2008 survey

Physical status

77%

53%59%

33%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Non-disabled Disabled

% o

f a

du

lts


Pew Internet & American Life Project – December 2008 survey

Language proficiency

76%

56%

44%

26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


% o

f ad

ult

s

English speaking Spanish speaking

September 9, 2009 9Trends in internet use

The mobile difference


The mobile difference


Broadband well-being benefits• 42% of Americans say they or someone they know has been helped by

health advice and information they have found online – compared with 3% who say they have been hurt by online medical information

• 68% of broadband users say broadband is important to them for finding out what is going on in their communities

• 62% say it is an important contributor to economic growth in their communities

• 58% say it is important to their ability to share their views with others• 57% say it is important to their ability to communicate with local officials• 25% of all Americans say the internet and cell phones have made their

current family life closer than the life they knew when they were young, compared with 11% who say technology has made their family not as close


Un-quantified impacts

• The exact economic value that is added to a locale when you bring broadband to the community … or the benefits that accrue to individuals as productive workers and as smart consumers when they become internet users

• Any improvements that occur in learning, especially in formal educational outcomes, when internet use is encouraged in school-related work

• The impact on medical outcomes that occurs when people use the internet to gather health information and share their stories about their own experience of diseases and treatments

• The possibility that internet use produces new involvement with civic and political life by those who might otherwise be disengaged


Thank you!

Lee Rainie

Director

Pew Internet & American Life Project

1615 L Street NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie

202-419-4500

UNFINISHED SYMPHONY: What we don’t know about the future of the internet

Technology

Transcript of UNFINISHED SYMPHONY: What we don’t know about the future of the internet