What Kind of Communication Technology User are You…Voracious or Ambivalent?
So what type of tech user are you? Did you take the survey yourself?
Yesterday, I shared a study I ran across which was done to discover how American adults use (or not) the internet as well as other communication tools, like iPods, cell phones, Bluetooths and other electronic tools.
The report was written by John B Horrigan, Director of research for the PEW Internet & American Life Project, based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between February 15 to April 6, 2006, among a sample of 4,001 adults, 18 and older.
PEW divides Americans up into three main categories, as well as 10 subset groups . Here’s the breakout:
· Elite Tech Users (31% of American adults)
· Middle-of-the-road Tech Users (20%)
· Few Tech Assets (49%)
It’s a fascinating report, but rather than have you read the whole thing, here are some of the highlights:
Of the “middle of the Road Users” half of them have invested in a lot of technology, but they find the connectivity intrusive and all the information something of a burden. Many of them say they suffer from information overload (sound familiar?). The typical member of this female-dominated group is in her late forties and not many would miss it if they had to without the internet, email, or their cell phone.
Of the “Few Tech Assets” group, only 15% are considered “off the Network”, which means those people who have neither cell phones nor internet connectivity and who tend to be older adults content with traditional media resources.
For Lackluster Veterans, 8% of the Middle Roaders, the thrill of information technology is gone – if it was ever there to begin with. The members of this fortyish group of mostly men came online in the mid-1990s and seem to carry the weight of necessity more than a full hearted embrace of information technology’s affordances.
Productivity Enhancers: this 8% of American adults happily get a lot of things done with information technology, both at home and at work, and view it as a way to give them an edge intheir professional and personal lives.
Inexperienced Experimenters: another 8% have the willingness to try new things online, which goes along with their openness to technology and they might even be willing to try even more if they had it. This is likely to be a woman and entering her fifties; she is likely to have been online for a relatively short amount of time – about five years – and to have an income just above the average.
