Information 2.

0 and Beyond:
Where are we,
where are we going?

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Research
Pew Internet Project

APLIC 44th Annual Conference

March 29th, 2011
Washington, DC
• Part of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” based in
Washington, DC
• Provide high quality, objective data to thought leaders and policy
makers
• Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts
• All findings are based on nationally representative telephone surveys
of…
– U.S. adults age 18+ or U.S. teens ages 12-17
– Drawn from dual-frame (landline/cell phone) samples
 The Evolution of the Internet
Broadband, Mobile,
Social Networks, Apps

Today’s Digital Information

Portable, Participatory,
Personal

Librarians 3.0
Shifting Roles for Librarians
Internet Evolution
 The Internet in 2000
Slow, stationary connections
built around a desktop

46% of adults used internet computer

5% had broadband connections at
home

<20% watched video online

53% owned a cell phone

0% connected to internet wirelessly

0% used social network sites
In 2010, 74% Use the Internet

Teen data Sept 2009 Adult data Nov 2010

 Stage One in Internet Evolution: Broadband

In 2010, 65% Have Broadband at Home

• High-speed connection brings greater overall
engagement in online activities
• Content creation meets the masses:
Blogging (14% of online adults)
Commenting (26%)
Downloading music (37%) or video (27%)
Watch online video (66%)
• Search becomes the norm (87%)
But, There Remains a Digital Divide
Internet access is highest among
Whites
College graduates
Those with incomes of $50,000+

Home broadband access is also most

common in white, highly educated and
more affluent households
 Less Visible Digital Divides
At least 1 in 4 U.S. adults
2% of U.S. adults live with a disability that
(able to participate in U.S. adults living with
interferes with activities chronic disease are
a telephone survey) of daily living significantly less
have a disability or likely than healthy
illness that makes it adults to have access
Of those, 54% use the
harder or impossible internet – compared with to the internet
for them to use the 81% of adults who report (62% vs. 81%)
internet none of these disabilities
 Stage Two in Internet Evolution: Mobile

Cell phone85%
In 2011, use is
ofon the riseHave a Cell Phone
Adults

In 2000, 53% of adults

owned a cell phone

Teen data Sept 2009 Adult data Nov 2010 In 2011, ¼ of US

households are cell only
 Laptops are
becoming the
computer of
choice

For the first

time in 2010,
adults 18-29
were more
likely to own a
laptop than a
desktop
In 2000,
there
were no
wireless
internet
users

Today,
59% of
adults go
online
wirelessly
Young Adults Lead the Way in Wireless Internet Use

Based on Nov 2010 Pew Internet Tracking Survey

Among adults who use their cell phone to go online…

In April 2009,
just 36% went online daily
via their cell phone

Based on May 2010 Pew Internet Tracking Survey

• Overall, wireless internet users are
more engaged in online activities

• Half of all African-American adults

in the US (48%) have used their cell
phone to access the internet,
compared with 40% of Hispanic
adults and 31% of white adults

• Overall, African-American adults

are the most active mobile internet
users

• African-American mobile internet

use is growing at a faster rate than
non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics
Based on Sept 2009 Pew Internet Survey
 New Kids on the Block
Percent of US adults 18+ who own each type of gadget… Tablet ownership
among U.S. adults
85%
rose from
4% to 7%
61%
57% between
43% September 2010
38%
and
January 2011
7% 6%

Cell Phone Desktop Laptop MP3 Player Game Console Tablet e-Reader
Computer

Based on Nov 2010 and Jan 2011 Pew Internet Surveys

 Mobile changes our
relationship
to time and space

I can get
the information I need
when I want it,
where I want it

Mobile has increased

accessibility
for some populations
Stage Three in Internet Evolution: Social Networking

Teens and young adults are the heaviest SNS users

In 2000, there were

no “social network
sites” or users

In 2005, 8% of
online adults used
SNS

In 2008, 35%

Today, 61% of
online adults use
SNS
Teen data Sept 2009 Adult data Nov 2010
 Twitter is not as popular as SNS

On the horizon…

In January 2011,
Total online 17% of adult internet
adults 8% users said they use a
geo-location
service or function
such as
Foursquare
or
Google Latitude
to share
their location
with friends
Teen data Sept 2009 Adult data Nov 2010
SNS are Information Game Changers

For
networked
individuals,
information
is
embedded
and
ambient
 Stage Four in Internet Evolution: Apps

Are Apps the Next Major Step?

All adults According to the

Nielsen Mobile
Insights Survey,
84% use cell phones the most popular
apps are…
35% have apps

Games
24% use apps News/Weather
Map/Navigation
35% of adults have apps on their phones, Social Networking
but only 24% say they actually use them
Based on May 2010 Pew Internet Tracking Survey
Based on May 2010 Pew Internet Tracking Survey

11% of cell owners are not sure if their

phone is equipped with apps

29% of cell owners have

downloaded an app and 13% have paid to
download an app

Among those with apps,

the average adult has 18 on his/her phone

App users are disproportionately male

(57% male v. 43% female)

They are also more likely to be college

graduates and have incomes of $75,00+

18-29 year-olds make up one quarter of the

total U.S. adult population but almost half
(44%) of the app using population
From Superhighway to Bypass?

Apps provide direct connections

to the information we want most

They can be web browsers,

but they can also bypass the web

Apps can…

•bypass search
•help answer questions
•help solve problems
•help accomplish tasks
Online News/Information
Consumption
Industrial Age Information Age
Info was: Info is:
Scarce Abundant
Expensive Cheap
Institutionally Personally
oriented oriented
Designed for Designed for
consumption participation
 The “New”
Information Ecology

• Blurring line between “news”

and “information”
• Information is “free”
• Information is “at my fingertips”
• Information is available when I
want it
• Information is available from
multiple sources
 Multiple Platforms are the Norm
Nine in ten American adults For six in ten American
(92%) get news/info from multiple adults (59%), one of those
platforms on a typical day platforms is the internet

*Platforms include print newspapers, television, radio and the internet

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey
 Who Gets Their News/Info Online?

71% of American adults ever get news

or information online
The majority of ONC are under age 50

Almost a third are under age 30

The median age of ONC is 40

Compared to other adults, ONC

are…
• more educated
• more affluent
• disproportionately white and
Hispanic
• more likely to have broadband
Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey
 Most Popular Online Sources for News and
Information

% of ONC Who Use Each Type of Site on a Typical Day

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey

Most Popular Features of Online News Sites

The most
popular features
allow people to
interact with,
share, and
customize their
news and info.
This is
especially true
for young
% of ONC Who Say Each Feature is Important adults.
Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey
 Most People Get News from Multiple Sites
How many websites, if any, do Do you have a favorite online
you routinely rely on for news news source, or do you not
and information? have a favorite?

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey

 Four Styles of Online News Consumption
Efficient Grazers
Most use multiple sites, have no
favorite, and portals rank high as a
favorite online news feature
Serendipitous News Discoverers
80% come across news/information at
least a few times a week while they are
online doing other things
Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey
Hunters and Gatherers
71% go online specifically to get
news/information at least a few times a
week
News/Info Receivers
44% get news/information forwarded
through email, automatic updates and
alerts, or posts on social networking
sites at least a few times a week
Three Emergent Themes of Information Consumption

Portable
Participatory
Personalized
“On the Go” News/Info Consumers

26% of adults access news/info

on their cell phones

Among this population, 73% use

social networking sites and
29% use Twitter

Typically a white male, age 34,

employed full-time

One in ten adults gets news alerts

sent to their phone

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey

 “News Participators”
37% of internet users have
contributed news content,
commented on it, or
disseminated it via SNS

Half of all online African-Americans

(46%) are news participators

Overall, 71% of internet users get

news/info through email or posts on
SNS

Remember…42% of ONC like sites where they

can easily share material

35% look for sites where they can

comment on stories

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey

 “The Daily Me”

28% of internet users have

customized their homepage to
include news/info of particular
interest to them

39% say being able to customize

content is something they look for
in a news site

70% of adults say they are

overwhelmed by the amount of
news and information available
today

Based on Jan 2010 Pew Internet Survey

 Shifting Roles
of Librarians/
Info Professionals

What does all

of this mean
for YOU?
Role #1: Filter
People still need trusted experts
to help them figure out whether information is
accurate and trustworthy

People all also need filters to explain how

information relates to them

Show people how/why information

is relevant

Allow people to customize information

to meet their own needs

Provide people with direct access to the

information that means the most to them

Transparency = Trust
Role #2: Curator

You can be the

one-stop shop people visit

Collect all relevant work/info

(not just your own)

Provide links to primary and related

sources and material

Recommend other sources,

experts and places

People seek aggregation

and deep dives into information
Role #3: Node in a Network
You can be a node in a network

Each person you touch represents an

entire network

Make your information easy to share

Your information can have an organic life

beyond your presentation of it –
package it with that in mind

Networking can be multi-layered

Be prepared to loosen control but

monitor conversations around your work
Role #4: Community Builder

Create your own networks

and build communities
around your material

Facilitate shared experiences,

connect people with shared interests

Get, listen to, and respond to feedback

Identify and meet people’s

needs by tuning in to
the online conversation
Role #5: Lifesaver

Provide timely information

when and where people need it most

Make your information portable

Operate in a 24/7 world

in which there is constant connectivity

Identify and meet people’s

most urgent needs by tuning in to
the online conversation
Role #6: Tour Guide?

Make connections
between your information
and real-world places

Create opportunities for

information immersion and
augmented realities
 Available at pewinternet.org

• How Mobile Devices are Changing Community Information

Environments
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Local-mobile-news.aspx

• How the Public Perceives Community Information Systems

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/08-Community-Information-Systems.aspx

• Generations and their Gadgets

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Generations-and-gadgets.aspx

• Mobile Access 2010

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx

• Understanding the Participatory News Consumer

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-News.aspx

• Social Media and Young Adults

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx
 Thank You!

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Research
Pew Research Center’s Internet &
American Life Project

kpurcell@pewinternet.org

Twitter: @kristenpurcell