Fresh & New(er)

The latest long form Pew Internet report came out about a week ago. It is a long read.

This one breaks down ICT users into ten categories in a similar way to the Social Technographics report from Foresters I blogged about recently.

Again this report reinforces the view that change in the mainstream for social technologies is far slower than the media hype implies. If you add up some of the percentages then for the time being there is 41% who are disconnected and not interested, 10% who prefer mobile technologies and rarely use the Internet, 18% who are well connected but still not interested. That leaves a current potential audience of about 31%.

I’d be extremely interested in a museum or arts/cultural sector study that was of a similar magnitude but asked everyone not only about ICT habits but also whether they were regular, infrequent or non-users of cultural sector services like museums and galleries. Looking at figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics report looking at 2002, the % of over 18s who had visited a museum (including art museums) in the past 12 months was (only) around 35%. (Full report from the ABS – see pages 53-54). These figures are for 2,049 sites classified as ‘museums’ for the purposes of the survey.

Four groups of information technology users occupy the elite end of the spectrum. Collectively, 80% of users in these four groups have high-speed internet at home, roughly twice the national average. They are (with each group’s share in the adult population in parentheses):

Omnivores (8%): They have the most information gadgets and services, which they use voraciously to participate in cyberspace, express themselves online, and do a range of Web 2.0 activities. Most in this group are men in their mid- to late twenties.

Connectors (7%): Between featured-packed cell phones and frequent online use, they connect to people and manage digital content using ICTs – with high levels of satisfaction about how ICTs let them work with community groups and pursue hobbies.

Lackluster Veterans (8%): They are frequent users of the internet and less avid about cell phones. They are not thrilled with ICT-enabled connectivity and don’t see them as tools for additional productivity. They were among the internet’s early adopters.

Productivity Enhancers (8%): They have strongly positive views about how technology lets them keep up with others, do their jobs, and learn new things. They are frequent and happy ICT users whose main focus is personal and professional communication.

Two groups make up the middle range of technology users:

Mobile Centrics (10%): They fully embrace the functionality of their cell phones. They use the internet, but not often, and like how ICTs connect them to others. 37% have high-speed internet connections at home. The group contains a large share of African Americans.

Connected But Hassled (10%): They have invested in a lot of technology (80% have broadband at home), but they find the connectivity intrusive and information something of a burden.

Some 49% of all Americans have relatively few technology assets, and they make up the final four groups of the typology. Just 14% of members of the first three groups listed below have broadband at home.

Inexperienced Experimenters (8%): They occasionally take advantage of interactivity, but if they had more experience and connectivity, they might do more with ICTs. They are late adopters of the internet. Few have high-speed connections at home.

Light But Satisfied (15%): They have some technology, but it does not play a central role in their daily lives. They are satisfied with what ICTs do for them. They like how information technology makes them more available to others and helps them learn new things.

Indifferents (11%): Despite having either cell phones or online access, these users use ICTs only intermittently and find connectivity annoying. Few would miss a beat if they had to give these things up.

Off the Network (15%): Those with neither cell phones nor internet connectivity tend to be older adults. A few of them have computers or digital cameras, but they are content with old media.