Lee Rainie – Opening Keynote IL2007

1385 people at the conference

Lee Rainie from Pew Internet and American Life Project
2.0 and the Internet World

[my comments in brackets]

[Lee always opens with humor and he goes through some things that have been blogged about him.]

[I can never keep up with Mr.Rainie when he talks. Everything he has to say is so interesting. Someone should podcast his speeches.] The Internet is the new computer. People do everything online. Half the population has broadband at home. Wireless users are different then other internet users.

Blogs have been built so seamlessly into social networking sites that teens do not think of the writing they are doing on their profiles as blogging.

19% of online young adults have created an avatar that interacts with others online

All content creators have an audience.

44% of young adults seek info on wikipedia
36% of adults use Wikipedia

34% of online young people have tagged things, though they do not often think of what they are doing as tagging

Americans can customize their online experience with Web 2.0 tools.
40% of younger users customize news and other info sources. [Though they often do not know it is RSS which makes that possible.]

Internet User Groups
Omnivores – 8% high end user group, have the most gadgets, late 20s, male dominant, students, wireless, racially diverse, broadband users

Connectors 7% – do not do nearly as much stuff as previous group, email, IM, cell phone, female dominant, diverse, believe that their gadgets can do more than they use them for

Lackluster Veterans 8% – use stuff at same level as Connectors, older, trending white, 40ish, tech is necessary but not exciting, do not like being “on” all the time [You could call these the technology grumps. They use it but they grump about it all the time.]

Productivity Enhancers 8% – workers, 40ish, like it because it helps them be efficient at work and shopping, no gender difference (like all all previous groups upscale in SES), no blogging really

Mobile Centric 10% – early 30s, minority rules, middle income, love their cell phones, only 37% have broadband, texters and photos with phone

Connected but Hassled 10% – high level of broadband, female, mid 40s, being online is a hassle, do so less frequently, complain of Information Overload

Inexperienced Experimenters 8% – no broadband older, but will try stuff, late adopters

Light but Satisfied – 15% – fine with what they have, mid 50s, do not need more, you have to call them to tell them to check their email, below national average SES, love tv and radio, only 15% have broadband

Indifferents 11% – 40s, “I do not like this stuff” most have cell phones and the internet but do not need it, proud to tell you that they do not need it

Off the Network 15% – no cell phone, no internet, 60s+ female dominant, poorest group, largest group of African Americans, they think the internet is full of porn and badness [It’s not?! 😉 ]

49% of pop is a low tech crowd, technophiles are only 8%

suggests a book entitled Smart Mobs by Howard Reingold

We have become grazers of information. [I agree. Not only do we have to because there is so much, but RSS encourages grazing instead of in depth reading.]

–Jane, grazing