by
Mark A. Ollig
The
folks at the Pew Research Center just recently released a report regarding our
feelings about the Internet.
Their
polling suggests we are keeping better contact with family and friends via the
Internet, text messaging, and emails.
I
have found this to be true.
I’m
texting, emailing, and using Internet social media to communicate with friends
and family much more these days, rather than placing telephone calls.
Pew
Research says 67 percent of online adults report being better informed about
friends, while 60 percent believe they know more about their family than they
did five years ago, because of their Internet and smartphone usage.
Internet
technology provides us with access to news and information about our local
communities, and civic organizations.
Surprisingly,
the polling only shows 49 percent of people feeling better informed about civic
and governmental activities in their town’s community, because of digital and
Internet technology.
Regarding
their neighbors and neighborhood, only 39 percent feel better informed because
of the technology.
In
many of the local community websites I have visited online, there is a wealth
of information available to citizens.
Perhaps
more attention should be paid to getting this information from city websites,
to the local citizens.
I
wrote a column Nov. 10, 1997 about when my hometown of Winsted first went live
with its own “official” city website on the Internet.
Hard
to believe it was 17 years ago, isn’t it?
This
taking-the-initiative writer feels the time has come to pen an updated column
about the variety of services and information city websites are offering to
their local citizens and visitors.
The
link to the 1997 column “City of Winsted now on the Web” can be read at
http://tinyurl.com/le3bxun.
We
know the Internet provides us with an enormous amount of information.
Pew
Research found 72 percent of the folks polled said they liked having this
information available to them.
On
the other hand, 26 percent felt “overloaded” by this eruption of Internet
information.
The
report shows 77 percent of the adults polled say the Internet has made today’s
students better informed, while 8 percent said students had become less
well-informed.
Who
those 8 percent were is a mystery to me.
The
2013 “How Much Media? Report on American Consumers” article from the USC
Marshall School of Business, predicts Americans will have consumed 1.7 trillion
hours of traditional and digital media content by 2015.
This
media includes print, television, radio, telephone, Internet, computer gaming,
and online social media; like Facebook and Twitter.
It
breaks down to an average of 15.5 hours a day per person consuming, and
creating original content; whether it be traditional or digital media.
One
study from 2008, showed the average American at that time was processing over
100,500 words per day from various sources.
Today’s
column is around 900 words, so this writer is doing his part in creating
content for your enjoyment.
Pew
Research says, of today’s Web users under age 50, 61 percent feel the Internet
and smartphones have improved their ability to learn new things, while 44
percent of users over age 50 responded saying this technology has “only a
little” or “not at all” improved their learning new things.
Its polling
found 75 percent of us feel better informed about national news, due to our
increased Internet usage.
The
Internet allows us to become more aware of the news and goings-on in other
countries around the world.
Pew
Research asked people if they feel better informed today about international
news because of their use of the Internet and smartphones compared with five
years ago. This poll showed 74 percent overall said they had.
I
was on a Barcelona news website, reading about their recent vote on the
Catalonia community (which Barcelona is a part of) becoming independent from
Spain.
Although
the website was written in the language of Catalan (there was no English
version), I could easily copy and paste its website address, or a specific
article into Google Translate, to read the text in English.
When
addressing the topic of health and fitness information, 65 percent of Internet
users said they are better informed than they were in 2009, due to their use of
the Internet and smartphones.
It
was satisfying to see the 87 percent of Americans polled who reported using the
Internet is helping them to learn new things.
Pew
Research discovered the Internet and digital technology is not only about
learning new things, it’s also about sharing information.
When
asked how digital technology has improved their capability to share thoughts
and concepts with other people, on average, 38 percent of online Americans
responded with “a lot,” while 34 percent said it improved their ability
“somewhat.” There were 27 percent responding with “only a little, or not at all.”
We
are enjoying, contributing, and learning from the ever-increasing amount of
information being made available to us over the Internet.
Our
ability to balance the amount of information we contribute and receive from the
Internet, without suffering from “information overload,” is something we
continue to learn how to handle.
This Pew Research study was conducted in September from a sampling of 1,066 Internet and smartphone users age 18 and older.
This Pew Research study was conducted in September from a sampling of 1,066 Internet and smartphone users age 18 and older.