Most US citizens not participating in web 2.0

Filed under: Internet, Blogging, Social Software

Most US citizens not participating in web 2.0

by Peter White May 8th 2007

They've got the gear, but they're just not getting into Web 2.0. A study released Sunday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that while 73% of Americans are online and well over half own a cell phone and a computer, only 8% are deep users of Web 2.0 features. According to the study, a Web 2.0 user is someone who uses technology to "express themselves online and participate in the commons of cyberspace." Which, admittedly, is a pretty classy term for people who do a lot of stuff online. Blogging, remixing media and the like. They study also went ahead to break internet users down into groups with cute little names like "Lackluster veteran" and "productivity enhancer", obviously to give the results some validity.

The study looked entirely at adults, ignoring teenagers because frankly, no one cares what they do. Even though they are among the heaviest and savviest technology users. Beside the point. Maybe when they grow up and act a little more mature they can be lumped into groups like "omnivore" or "inexperienced experimenter." Actually, "inexperienced experimenter" sounds like a pretty good description of teenage life, if not of their online activity. One can assume teenagers were left out because no survey conducted by Princeton University was willing to contain the category: "we're just here to find free music and pornography."

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Todd said 9:28AM on 5-08-2007

I sense a fatal error in this so-called "study".

Amazon, ebay and NetFlix are "web 2.0", in fact amazon and ebay are the archetypes, and their use is pervasive ( "people powered" = web 2.0 )

If the study asked if people used Meebo, Twitter, Yahoo pipes, etc. I would accept the 8%.

Please publish the exact list of "web 2.0" services presented in the study.

Ivo said 9:28AM on 5-08-2007

I think everyone participates, but not everyone is aware of doing so. Today's blogosphere follows life as it happens and sets the mark of what's hot or not.

http://www.web20friends.net/?q=american+life+project

Kevin Guidry said 10:31AM on 5-08-2007

"The study looked entirely at adults, ignoring teenagers because frankly, no one cares what they do..."

That's very harsh and completely uncalled for. The folks at the Pew Internet & American Life Project do fantastic research into how teens and children use the Internet and they often integrate that data in their "adult" research. The research standards differ significantly for adults and youths and conducting the same research on both sets of people takes significant resources.

With that said, I agree that the cutesy names given to these different groups of people add nothing to the research. In fact, in my mind they detract from what is otherwise very interesting and valid research.

Racetrack-Owner said 10:31AM on 5-08-2007

"The study looked entirely at adults, ignoring teenagers because frankly, no one cares what they do."

That's an excellent description of how the rest of us feel about "Web 2.0" in general.

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