Pew - 2007 - 2.1

THE NEW DIGITAL ECOLOGY
The growth and impact of the

internet (and related
technologies)
Lee Rainie – Director

Washington Web Managers Roundtable
February 1, 2007
1 - Experts and information
gatekeepers
are challenged
2 - There is a
libertarian backlash
3 - Cataloguing and searching
information becomes much
easier
4 - Crackpot ideas gain
circulation
5 - New
institutions form
6 - Fights over intellectual
property break out
7 - Cultures of identity
multiply
8 - New languages
arise
!( Black eye BRB: Be Right Back

!) Proud of black eye JK: Just Kidding
#) Partied all night LOL: Laughing Out Loud
#:o Shocked LYLAS: Love You Like a Sister
%*} Inebriated NP: No Problem
%+{ Got beat up OMG: Oh My God
%) Dazed or silly
OTP : On the Phone
%6 Braindead
POS: Parent Over Shoulder
%\ Hung over
ROFL: Rolling on Floor Laughing
%| Worked all night
TTYL: Talk to You Later
%\ Hangover
YW: You're Welcome
>>:<< Furious
9 - Boundaries between public and
private break down
10 - New
professions emerge
11 - Educational methods
are changed
Elizabeth Eisenstein: “The Printing
Press
as an Agent of Change” in 15th
Century Europe
All of these occurred

….in the550
and lastyears
decade
ago
4 - Crackpot ideas gain
circulation
7 new truths about the
digital environment that
are changing social and
civic life
New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 15

Truth 1
Media and gadgets are

ubiquitous parts of
everyday life

Home media ecology - 1975
Product Route to home Display Local storage
TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track

broadcast TV radio
broadcast radio stereo Vinyl album
News mail
Advertising newspaper delivery phone

paper
Radio Stations non-electronic
Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

Home media ecology – now
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content iPod /MP3server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery phone cable box
Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console
game console paper
Satellite radio non-electronic storage sticks/disks
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

Media experiences “by other
means”
• 43% of young adult

radio consumers
occasionally listen to
radio programs on
something other than
a radio console –
computers (76%),
laptops (34%), iPods
(35%), cell phones
(13%)

means”

TV viewers
occasionally watch
shows on something
other than TV sets –
computers (70%),
laptops (36%), cell
phones (16%), iPods
(7%)

means”

internet users have
placed a phone call
via the internet and
19% have used
webcams to connect
with others in remote
locales

Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M, March 2005

Truth 2
New gadgets allow people

to enjoy media, gather
information, and carry on
communication anywhere

Mobile devices
• 73% of adults
own cell
phones
• 77% of young
adults and
63% of teens
own them

The communications Swiss Army knife
Percentage of cell Percentage who Don’t use it
phone owners use this feature now, but would
whose phones have now on their cell like to have it
this feature phones
Send and receive text 35% 13%

75%
messages
Take still pictures 39% 28% 19%
Play games 63% 22% 12%
Access the internet 44% 14% 16%
8% 24%
Send / receive email 43%
Trade instant messages NA 7% 11%
Play music 21% 6% 19%
Record their own video clips 22% 6% 17%
Get mobile maps NA 4% 47%
Watch video or TV programs 13% 2% 14%

Mobile devices
• 55% of adults
own digital
cameras
• 62% of young
adults own them
• 51% of young adults and
67% of older teens share
photos on the internet

Mobile devices
• 43% of adults
own video
cameras
• 37% of teens
own them
• 22% of young adults and
17% of older teens share
videos online

Mobile devices
• 40% of adults
play video
games
• 83% of teens do
so
Kaiser Family Foundation – March 2005
• 67% of teens play games

online

Mobile devices
• 30% of adults
own laptops
• 43% of young
adults own
them

Mobile devices
• 20% of adults
own MP3
players
• 51% of teens
own them

Mobile devices
• 11% of adults
own a PDA or
Blackberry
• 8% of teens
own them

Fragmented media
environment
(% of all Americans who “regularly” go to news source:
PRC People/Press)
70
60
50 -22%
Local TV
Natl TV news -53%
40
Cable news +3%
Newspapers -31%
30 -23%
Radio
Online News +1,450%
20
10
0
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Truth 3
The internet (especially

broadband) is at the
center of the revolution

Internet and broadband adoption
1995-2006
80%
70% All internet - 140 mill.
60%
50%
40%
Broadband - 98 mill.
30%
20%
10%
0%
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
r-9 r-9 r-9 r-9 r-9 r-0 r-0 r-0 r-0 r-0 r-0 r-0
a a a a a a a a a a a a
M M M M M M M M M M M M
Fragmented audiences: Nine digital
gaps persist
Factors where there are strong correlations
• Age – internet use is highest among young, lowest among
older Americans
• Educational attainment – internet use is high among those
with college and graduate degrees and relatively low among
those with high school diplomas
• Disability status – internet use is lower among the disabled
• Language preference– internet use highest among English
speakers, and lower among those who prefer to speak a
language other than English

Nine digital gaps persist
Factors where the correlations are weaker, but are still

significant
• Race and ethnicity – internet use is high among whites
and Asian-Americans and lower among African-Americans.
• Income – internet use is highest among those living in
households with $75,000 or more of income and low
among those living in households with under $30,000 of
income.
• Parental status – internet use is higher among those with
minor children living at home than in households with no
children under 18 living at home.

Nine digital gaps persist
Factors where there are differences in the internet using

populations, but where statistical correlations are not
notable
• Employment status – internet use is highest among
students, lowest among the retired and widows
• Community type – internet use is higher among suburban
and urban residents, lower among rural residents

Truth 4
Different people use the

internet in different ways

Use of government websites --
gender
50%
45%
Total adult population
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
Apr-00 Apr-01 Apr-02 Apr-03 Apr-04 Apr-05 Apr-06
overall population men women

Use of government websites –
race/ethnicity
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
overall population Whites Blacks Hispanics

Use of government websites –
generations
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
overall population ages 18-29 ages 30-49 ages 50-64 age 65+
Different people use the internet
in different ways -- Gender
Men > Women Women = Men Woman > Men
• Be online on a typical
day • Use search engines • Appreciate email
• Use wireless • Check weather and instant
devices/connections messaging
• Get news/politics • Games
• • • Health information
Search on hobbies Research/buy
• Browse for fun products • Religious
• Online banking,
• information
auctions, stock trades Store/display
• photos • Seek online
Job-related research
• Swap music files • Use online support
• Sports invitations • Research travel
• Create content • Probe genealogy
• Use dating sites
• Access adult content • Maps/directions

in different ways – Race/ethnicity
Whites African-Americans Latinos

• Be online • •
Information for new Access cultural
• Broadband jobs content
• Wireless / PDAs
• • Information for new • Download/share
Email
• housing files
Perform most kinds
of transactions • Browse for fun • Instant message
• Get news/politics • Religious • Get sports
• Do job-related information information
research
• • Play games • Research travel
Create content
• Seek hobby • Cell phones • Cell phones
information
• Listen to audio /
watch video

in different ways – Generations
Young Gen X / Boomers Seniors

• Instant message • •
Transactions Email
• Games
• • Get news / politics • Weather
Wireless
• Dating • Health • Get maps
• Housing • Job-related directions
• New jobs information • Research travel
• Create content • Information for new
• P2P services jobs
• Play games • new housing
• Cultural information
• Religious
• Rate things
• information
Adult content
• Seek online support

Truth 5
Multi-tasking is a way of life

– and people live in a
state of “continuous partial
attention”
--- Linda Stone



Multitasking and attention deficits:
What else were you doing when you
last…
Watched Listened Read a Used the Talked on
TV to radio newspaper internet the phone
Watched TV * 9% 38% 17% 54%
Listened to
13 * 21 16 30
radio
Read a
43 21 * 2 14
newspaper
Used the
20 17 2 * 19
internet
Talked on
57 25 14 18 *
the phone
Source: Forrester Research, 2004

Truth 6
Ordinary citizens have a

chance to be publishers,
movie makers, artists,
song creators, and story
tellers

Content creation
39% of online teens

share their own
creations online,
such as artwork,
photos, stories, or
videos
----
22% of online adults
have done this

Content creation
33% have created or

worked on webpages
or blogs for others,
including those for
groups they belong
to, friends or school
assignments
----
13% of online adults do
this

Content creation
27% of online teens

report keeping
their own personal
webpage
----
have their own
page

Content creation
26% say they remix

content they find
online into their
own artistic
creations
----
9% of online adults
have done this

Content creation
19%+ have
created their
own online
journal or blog
----
8% of online
adults have a
blog

Content creation
55% of online teens

have created their
own profile on a
social network site
like MySpace or
Facebook
----
have such profiles

SNS: The Abridged Version
• Girls use it more, more likely to use it to reinforce
pre-existing relationships, boys meet more new
people, flirt
• Communication moving into SNS
• Teens are taking protective measures; 66% of
SNS-using teens have in some way restricted
access to their profile
• Tension in social networking sites over “findability”
– Want to stay safe; want privacy from parents,
teachers
– Want to connect with friends, those with similar
interests
Communication with social
networks is changing and “weak
ties” are growing inside networks
• We maintain larger networks
• Communications patterns shift -- email, IM, texting,
blogging
• Activities on SNS sites:
– 84% post message on friend’s wall or page
– 82% send private messages to a friend
– 76% post comments to a friend’s blog
– 72% make plans with friends on SNS
– 61% send a bulletin or mass message to all
friends in the system
– 33% wink, poke, give e-props to friends

Content creation by age
90
80
70
60
Percentage
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ages 12- Ages 18- Ages 30- Ages 39- Ages 49- Ages 61- Ages 70+
17 29 38 48 60 69
Internet users Total population

Social networks matter more –
especially in important decisions
The Internet’s Role in Making an Important Decision
What specific role did the internet play in the event for which the internet
played an important or crucial role?
For respondents who said the internet played a crucial or important role in buying a car,
making a major investment, getting additional career training, choosing a school for
self or child, or helping someone with a major illness or health condition.
Help you find advice and support

from other people 34%
Help you find information or

compare options 30%
Help you find professional or expert

services 28%
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project March 2005 Survey. The margin of error ±5% for the 560 respondents to this question.

Internet use at major life moments
Total who % relevant Overall
used internet users growth >
internet who say int. 2002
played crucial /
important role
Bought a car 29 million 27% 21%
(62.5 mill.) 17 million
Got more education / 35 million 39% 50%
training for career 21 million
(53 mill.)
Chose a school for me / 27 million 45% 55%
my child 17 million
(39.5 mill.)
Helped another with a 33 million 24% 55%
serious illness 17 million
(66.5 mill.)
Made major investment 29 million 29% 77%
(56 mill.) 16 million
Internet use at major life moments
Total who % relevant Overall
used internet users growth >
internet who say int. 2002
played crucial /
important role
Found a new place to 16 million 33% 25%
live 11 million
(32.5 mill.)
Changed jobs 14 million 25% 17%
(34 mill.) 8 million
Dealt myself with a 12 million 26% 16%

major illness 7 million
(26 mill.)
Got married 3 million 24% 63%
(7 mill.) 1.6 million
Social network sites are special
personal and community spaces
• Self-expression and feedback

• 19% have a blog
• 38% read the blogs of others
• 76% of social network-using teens leave
comments on the blogs of friends

Consequence – society moves
more toward “networked
individualism” (Barry Wellman)
• Human relations moving from groups to

networks
• Looser, rather than denser networks
• Multiple Specialized Relationships
• Partial Membership in Multiple Networks
• More Long-Distance Relationships
• More Transitory Relationships
• More Weak Ties
• More Uncertainty, More Maneuverability
• More “reporting” relationships – less hierarchy

Truth 7
Everything will change

even more in coming
years

The J-curve laws
• Computing power doubles every 18 months –

Moore’s law
• Storage power doubles every 12 months – disk
law
• Communications power doubles every 2-3 years
with improvements in fiber optics and
compression – Gilder’s law
– Spectrum power is enhanced with efficiency
improvements in spectrum allocation and use

Home media ecology – future
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations phone/DSL TV
Info wireless radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery phone cable box
Radio stations PDA/Palm game console
game console paper
Satellite radio non-electronic storage sticks/disks
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

Thank you!
Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Lrainie@pewinternet.org
202-419-4500

Consequence – Citizens’
expectations change
• People expect institutions and individuals to be

“findable” online and available
• People expect information will be available and
transactions will be smoother than in the past
• People expect institutions and individuals to be
much more forthcoming about what they do and
how they do it (transparency imperative)
• People hope that relevant information
(independent/edited AND commercial) will be
packaged and linked – keywords uber alles

Consequence – Citizen
interactions change
• The boundary between “consumer” and

“producer” breaks down
• Conversations replace traditional “marketing”:
People expect to be able to interact with other
people and institutional information and media
• Rankings, ratings, commentary are part of the
conversation – as are links.
• “Brands” live in a paradoxical state: Customer
loyalty can be honored and nourished more than
in the past, but “consumers” then “own” the
definition of brands more

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THE NEW DIGITAL ECOLOGY

The growth and impact of the

Lee Rainie – Director

!­( Black eye BRB: Be Right Back

All of these occurred

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 15

Media and gadgets are

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 16

TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track

Advertising newspaper delivery phone

Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 17

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 18

• 43% of young adult

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 19

• 20% of young adult

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 20

• 13% of young adult

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 21

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 22

New gadgets allow people

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 23

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 24

Send and receive text 35% 13%

Play games 63% 22% 12%

Access the internet 44% 14% 16%

Trade instant messages NA 7% 11%

Play music 21% 6% 19%

Record their own video clips 22% 6% 17%

Get mobile maps NA 4% 47%

Watch video or TV programs 13% 2% 14%

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 26

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 27

• 67% of teens play games

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 28

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 29

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 30

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 31

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 32

The internet (especially

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 33

70% All internet - 140 mill.

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 35

Factors where the correlations are weaker, but are still

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 36

Factors where there are differences in the internet using

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 37

Different people use the

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 38

overall population men women

overall population Whites Blacks Hispanics

Apr-00 Apr-01 Apr-02 Apr-03 Apr-04 Apr-05 Apr-06

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 42

Whites African-Americans Latinos

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 43

Young Gen X / Boomers Seniors

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 44

Multi-tasking is a way of life

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 45

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 46

New Digital Ecology February 1, 2007 47

!( Black eye BRB: Be Right Back