Computer Hysteria: Pew
by Berry F. Phillips June 2006
"Pew" could conjure up several images in your mind. For example, you might
think of a human expression uttered upon inhaling the exotic perfume of a
skunk! Perhaps you might think of an aching back from that hard wooden pew
at church! What does pew have to do with computing? Perhaps nothing
caution because you are reading in the CHZ, the Computer Hysteria Zone!
The Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent nonprofit, was established
between 1948 and 1979 by the children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph
Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew, with the creation of the Pew Memorial
Foundation honoring their parents' memory. In 2005, the foundation
invested $177 million to fund the various trusts including the founding in
1999 of The Pew Internet & American Life Project which studies the social
and civic impact of the Internet, often considered the most far-ranging,
behavior-changing communications innovation since the invention of
printing.
The Project produces reports that explore the impact of the Internet on
families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care,
and civic and political life. The Project aims to be be an authoritative
source on the evolution of the Internet through collection of data and
analysis of real-world developments as they effect the virtual world.
The basis of the reports are nationwide random digit dial telephone
surveys as well as online surveys. This data collection is supplemented
with research from government agencies, academia, and other expert venues,
observations of what people do and how they behave when they are online,
in-depth interviews with Internet users and Internet experts alike and
other efforts that try to examine individual and group behavior. The
Project releases 15-20 pieces of research a year, varying in size, scope,
and ambition.
Latest trends from the project reports show the number of adult users are
now almost equally divided between men and women representing 73% of
American adults who use the Internet which currently represents
approximately 147 million people. Here is what we do online: Send e-mail
(91%), use a search engine to find information (91%), search for a map or
driving direction(84%), look for health/medical information (79%) ,
research a product or service before buying it (78%), check the weather
(78%), look for information on a hobby or interest (77%), get travel
information (73%), get news (68%), buy a product (67%), surf the web for
fun (66%), buy or make a reservation for travel (63%), look for political
news/information (58%), and for lesser percentages of use on online
activities visit www.pewinternet.org
whose website was used to research this article with my appreciation.
While researching this Pew article, I began wondering if the article might
be good enough to be submitted to win a "Pewlitzer" Prize! On second
thought that would be just plain "pewlish!"
Berry Phillips is a member of the CCOKC and a regular writer for the CCOKC website and the eMonitor