Information on the go

Information on the Go: Digital technology trends impacting today’s libraries and librarians Kristen Purcell, Ph.D. Associate Director, Research Pew Internet & American Life Project E-reader Summit and Technology Showcase Arizona State Library Phoenix, AZ September 20 th , 2010

Pew Internet Project
Part of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” based in Washington, DC
Provide high quality, objective data to thought leaders and policy makers
Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts
All US findings are based on nationally representative telephone surveys of…
US adults age 18+, or
US teens ages 12-17
Drawn from dual-frame (RDD/cell) samples

Today’s Discussion
What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?
U.S. cell phone and internet use trends
The rise of social media
E-readers, tablet computers, and apps
The New Information Ecology
What are the hallmarks of the new information ecology?
Online information consumers
who they are
how they behave
what they like
Leveraging New Technologies
Tips for success in the new information ecology

US Adult Cell Phone Use

Laptops are Becoming the Computer of Choice

Mobile Internet Use

US Adult Wireless Internet Use

Overall, wireless internet users are more engaged in online activities
Half of all African-American adults in the US (48%) have used their cell phone to access the internet, compared with 40% of Hispanic adults and 31% of white adults
Overall, African-American adults are the most active mobile internet users
African-American mobile internet use is growing at a faster rate than non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics

US Teen Mobile Use

US Adult and Teen Social Media Use Percent of internet users in each age group who use…

Blogging is Down For Young Adults

Content Sharing is Growing Among Adults

Summary of US Teen Online Activities
73% of online teens use SNS (up 50%)
14% blog (down 50%)
8% use Twitter
8% visit online virtual worlds
38% share content online (steady)
62% get news about current events and politics
48% buy things online
31% get health, dieting, fitness info
17% get info about sensitive health topics

US Adult Gadget Ownership Based on an August 2010 Pew Internet tracking survey Percent of US adults 18+ who own each type of gadget…

Wireless Internet Other than Cell/Laptop Percent of Owners Who Use Each Device To Go Online… In May 2010, 59% of tablet computer owners reported using their device to access the internet

Adult E-Reader and Tablet Ownership (May 2010 data) Percent With e-Readers Percent With Tablet Computers Education Less than HS 0 1 HS Grad 3 1 Some college 2 4 College Grad 9 4 Income <$30,000 1 2 $30,000-$49,999 2 1 $50,000-$74,999 5 2 $75,000+ 8 5

Adult Apps Use 82% use cell phones 35% have apps 24% use apps All adults 35% of adults have apps on their phones, but only 24% actually use them

Who is Using Apps?
43% of US adult cell phone users have apps on their phones
29% have downloaded an app to their phone
38% have purchased a phone with preloaded apps
Among those who have apps, only 68% actually use them
One in ten adults with a cell phone (11%) are not sure if their phone is equipped with apps
Apps users are disproportionately male, young, affluent, and highly educated.
Apps users also skew slightly Hispanic compared with other cell users
The app downloader population skews even more toward being male and young

App Use Still Ranks Low Apps use ranks low among non-voice cell phone activities % of adult cell phone users who do each of the following on their phone… Take a picture 76% Send or receive text messages 72 Access the internet 38 Play a game 34 Send or receive email 34 Record a video 34 Play music 33 Send or receive instant messages 30 Use an app 29

How Many Apps Do Adults Have? The average adult has 18 apps, young adults have more Mean and median number of apps for each group… Median Mean All adults with apps 10 18 Age 18-29 12 22 Age 30-49 10 16 Age 50+ 8 13

Which Apps Are Most Popular?
According the Nielsen Apps Playbook, the most popular apps among US adults are…
games
news/weather
maps/navigation
social networking
music
Women and young adults in their sample were the heaviest social networking and game apps users
Older and higher income adults in their sample were most likely to use map/navigation apps and news/weather apps

Highlights of the New Information Ecology

Then and Now

The “New” Information Ecology
Volume of information grows

Venues of intersecting with information and people multiply and the availability of information expands to all hours of the day and all places people are

Valence (relevance) of information improves – search and customization get better as we create the “Daily Me” and “Daily Us”
~40% of online adults get RSS feeds ~35% customize web pages for info they want

Voting on and ventilating about information proliferates as tagging, rating, and commenting occurs and collective intelligence asserts itself
31% of online adults rated person, product, service

The “New” Information Ecology Where Americans get their news and information on a typical day

71% of American adults ever get news or information online The majority of online news and information consumers are under age 50 The Online News/Information Consumer

71% of American adults ever get news or information online Almost a third of online news and information consumers are under age 30 The Online News/Information Consumer *The median age of online news/info consumers is 40

Online News/Information Consumers in the US…
Are more educated than other online adults and other adults in general
Have higher incomes than other online adults and other adults in general
Are disproportionately white and Hispanic
Are much more likely than other online adults to have home broadband access and to have premium broadband service

The Online News/Information Consumer % of Online News/Info Consumers Who Use Each Site on a Typical Day Most Popular Online Sources for News and Information

The Online News/Information Consumer % of Online Adults Who Get News/Information Online About Each Topic What Are the Most Popular Online News/Information Topics?

The Online News/Information Consumer % of Online News/Info Consumers Who Say Each Feature is Important Most Popular Features of Online News Sites

The Online News/Information Consumer
Online News/Info Consumers are…
Efficient Grazers (78% routinely rely on five or fewer websites for their news/info and portals are most popular)
Hunters and Gatherers (71% go online specifically to get news/information at least a few times a week)
Serendipitous News/Info Discoverers (80% come across news/information at least a few times a week while they are online doing other things)
News/Info Receivers (44% get news/information forwarded to them through email, automatic updates and alerts, or posts on social networking sites at least a few times a week)

Online News and Information
Online News and Information is…
Portable
Participatory
Personalized

“ On the Go” News/Info Consumers
26% of adults access news/information on their cell phones
Among this population, 73% use social networking sites and 29% use Twitter
Typically a white male, age 34, employed full-time
One in ten adults gets news alerts sent to his or her phone
The mobile phone allows anytime/anywhere access to information
Info is consumed on the individual’s terms, when they want, where they want
Online Information is Portable

“ News Participators”
37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented on it, or disseminated it via postings on social network sites like Facebook or Twitter
Half of all online African-Americans (46%) are news participators (disproportionately high SNS use)
Overall, 71% of internet users get news and information through email or posts on social networking sites
Remember…
42% of online news/info consumers say being able to easily share material is something they look for in a news site
65% look for news sites with links to related material
36% look for news sites with interactive material
35% look for news sites where they can comment on stories.
Online Information is Participatory

“ News Participators” are standing in the information stream
Thanks to them, your story/information has an organic life beyond your presentation of it
Online Information is Participatory

“ The Daily Me” Takes Shape
28% of internet users have customized their homepage to include news and information of particular interest to them
39% say being able to customize content is something they look for in an online news site
Remember…
42% of online news/info consumers say being able to customize information is something they look for in a news site
Online Information is Personalized

Leveraging New Technologies

"If you plopped a library down. . .30 years from now. . .there would be cobwebs growing everywhere because people would look at it and wouldn't think of it as a legitimate institution because it would be so far behind. . ." -- Experienced library user . 1996 Benton Foundation report: “ Buildings, books, and bytes”

How Technology Changes the Role of Libraries
Makes it possible for organizations like libraries to become “nodes” in people’s networks that can help them solve problems and make decisions
Allows for immediate, spontaneous creation of networks that can include libraries
Gives people a sense that there are more “friends” in their networks like librarians that they can access when they have needs

No longer think like this…

Now think like this…

Being a Node in a Social Network
You are a friend, not an institution
Your strengths are being an expert, a filter, a recommender (linker), and a facilitator
Your audience is bigger than the available evidence provides – lurkers and future arrivals are part of the mix
Your information can have an organic life beyond your presentation of it
You can build communities with your material

Being a Node in a Social Network
You can participate in the Web 2.0 world
There is a move towards mobility, constant connectivity, perpetual contact
This changes the realities of time and space and presence
You can ask for feedback
You can act on/respond to that feedback
You can create opportunities for interaction with and customization of material
You can facilitate information sharing

The Four A’s of Online Information Flow
Get Attention
Leverage your services and knowledge
Offer alerts, updates, feeds
Have a presence in relevant places
Find pathways to people through their social network
Enable Acquisition
Offer services and media in many places
Pursue new distribution methods for your collections
Point people to good material through links
Participate in conversations about your work/material with your patrons

The Four A’s of Online Information Flow
Help with Information Assessment
Exploit your skills in knowing the highest quality material (70% of adults say they are overwhelmed by the amount of news and information available today)
Aggregate the best related work
Facilitate Action
Offer opportunities for feedback
Offer opportunities for remixing, customization, interaction
Offer opportunities for community building
Offer opportunities to learn how to use social media

Finally…. IT PRESENTS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES The internet, mobile technology and social media grant access to populations that have been traditionally hard to reach:

Remember… It’s not about cobwebs.... It’s about social webs …. And libraries can be at the center of them!

Available at www.pewinternet.org...
The Rise of Apps Culture http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture.aspx
Cell Phones and American Adults http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Cell-Phones-and-American-Adults.aspx
Mobile Access 2010 http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx
Understanding the Participatory News Consumer http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2010/Online-News.aspx
Social Media and Young Adults http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx
Teens and Mobile Phones 2004-2009 http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/14--Teens-and-Mobile-Phones-Data-Memo.aspx
Wireless Internet Use http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx

Thank you!
Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Research
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: kpurcell@pewinternet.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kristenpurcell
202-419-4500

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Information on the go

by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

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