This document summarizes a presentation given by Kristen Purcell from the Pew Internet Project. The presentation discusses trends in mobile device and internet use globally and in the US. It highlights that mobile use is growing rapidly worldwide, with the number of mobile subscriptions exceeding the global population. In the US, African Americans have higher rates of mobile internet access compared to other racial groups. The presentation also characterizes the new information ecology as more abundant, cheap, and personalized compared to the past. It notes people now access information from many sources and platforms. Finally, it provides details on characteristics and behaviors of online news and information consumers in the US.

1. My Digital Library:
Leveraging Today’s
Mobile and Participatory
Information Ecosystem
Digital Libraries a la Carte
TICER
Tilburg University, Tilburg Netherlands
July 29th, 2010
Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Research
Pew Internet Project

2. 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

3. Today’s Discussion
1) What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?
– Global cell phone use trends
– US cell phone and internet use trends
– The importance of social media
2) Highlights of 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
3) Leveraging New Technologies
– Tips for success in the new information ecology

4. What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?

5. Global Mobile Subscriptions

6. Mobile Penetration by Region

7. Worldwide Mobile Subscriptions, 2005-2009
140
120
World
100
Western Europe
80 Asia
Americas
60 Arab States
Africa
40 CIS
20
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Number of mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

8. Mobile Subscriptions, Select Countries
United Arab Emirates
Source: ITU World
Qatar
Telecommunication/I
Italy
CT Indicators
Denmark Database, 2009
UK figures.
Netherlands
Israel Worldwide average
Thailand is 68 subscriptions
Greece
per 100 people.
Belgium
Worldwide ratio of
France
cell subscription to
United States
fixed line is almost
Australia
4:1.
Brazil
Japan Total worldwide cell
Ivory Coast phone subscriptions
China is 4,676,174,400, up
India from 1,763,978,500 in
2004.
0 50 100 150 200 250
Mobile Cellular Subscriptions Per 100 People

9. Global IT Trends

10. Mobile Broadband Subscriptions, 2005-2009
35
30
World
25
Western Europe
20 Asia
Americas
15 Arab States
Africa
10 CIS
5
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Number of mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

11. Internet Users, 2005-2009
70
60
World
50
Western Europe
40 Asia
Americas
30 Arab States
Africa
20 CIS
10
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Number of internet users per 100 inhabitants.
Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

12. Internet Use, Western Europe
Iceland 67
Sweden 63
UK 59
Source: ITU World
Denmark 54 Telecommunication/ICT
Indicators Database, 2009
figures.
Netherlands 52
Western Europe average is 42
Germany 47 (24 if you include CIS).
Belgium 39
France 37
Italy 34
Greece 15
0 20 40 60 80
Internet users per 100 people

13. Internet Access Via Cell, 16-74 Year-Olds
Sweden 14
Denmark 10
Spain 9
UK 7
Netherlands 6
Source:
Eurostat, 2009 figures.
Italy 4
Germany 3
Belgium 3
France 2
Greece 1
EU (27 countries) 4
0 5 10 15 20
Percentage of 16-74 year-olds accessing the internet via
mobile phone in the past 3 months

14. Internet Access Via Laptop, 16-74 Year-Olds
Denmark 31
Sweden 29
Germany 24
UK 21
Netherlands 18
Source:
Eurostat, 2009 figures.
Spain 17
Italy 15
France 14
Belgium 13
Greece 3
EU (27 countries) 17
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Percentage of 16-74 year-olds accessing the internet via
laptop in the past 3 months

15. THE BIG 5 MOBILE YOUTH
ECONOMIES
255m
$31b
$58b
97m
281m
CHINA
THE MOBILEYOUTH® REPORT 2010
$21b
32
$21b
USA
$19b
76m
JAPAN
INDIA
SUBSCRIPTIONS
VALUE $BN PA
(AGE <30)
BRAZIL
15
SOURCE MOBILEYOUTH DATA 2010 AGES 5-29
SNS, Youth & Health

16. MOBILE YOUTH: TEENS & STUDENTS
MILLIONS OF SUBSCRIPTIONS 2010
47.5
22.4
119.7
12
13
41.7
99.4
28.6
30.8
22.9
EAST EUROPE
NE ASIA
36.6
WEST EUROPE
THE MOBILEYOUTH® REPORT 2010
20
NORTH AMERICA
CHINA HK
139.8
60.1
MENA
STUDENTS
32.1
TEENS (14-
(19-24)
38.2
63.7
52.9
31.7
18)
15
LATIN AMERICA
SUB SAH AFRICA SOUTH ASIA ASIAN PACIFIC
SOURCE MOBILEYOUTH DATA 2010 BASED ON SUBSCRIPTIONS (ACCOUNTS) RATHER THAN SUBSCRIBERS
TEENS 14-18 STUDENTS 19-24
16
SNS, Youth & Health

17. www.mobileYouthreport.com
Published by mobileYouth
Statistics on youth mobile usage
Available for download

18. US Teen Mobile Use

19. US Teen Mobile Use

23. US Teen Gadget Use

24. US Teen Internet Access

28. US Adult Cell Phone Use

30. US Adult Wireless Internet Use
All adults 18-29 30-49 50-64 65+
84%
69%
59%
49%
20%
% who connect to the internet wirelessly using a laptop or handheld device

31. What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?
• Overall, US 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 in the US are
the most active mobile internet users
• In the US, African-American mobile internet use
is growing at a faster rate than non-Hispanic
whites and Hispanics

32. US Social Network Site Use

33. US Adult Social Media Use
Percent of Online Adults Who Use Social Media
86
61
52
27
17 13
SNS Twitter
Total 18-29 30+

34. US Adult Social Media Use, by Race
Percent of Online Adults Who Use Social Media
71 72
58
25 20
15
SNS Twitter
White Black Hispanic

35. US Teens Aren’t That Into Twitter

36. US Adults 18-24 Are Into Twitter

37. US Teens are More Into Content Creation

38. Content Sharing is Growing Among Adults

39. Remixing is Flat

40. SNS Takes the Place of Blogging?

41. Blogging is Also Down For Young Adults

42. 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)
• 21% remix content (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

43. Hallmarks of the New Information Ecology

44. Then and Now
Industrial Age Information Age
Info was: Info is:
Scarce Abundant
Expensive Cheap
Institutionally Personally
oriented oriented
Designed for Designed for
consumption participation

45. The “New” Information Ecology
• Blurring line between “news” and
“information”
• Information is “free”
• Information is “at my fingertips”
• Information is available when I want it
• Information is available from multiple
sources

46. The “New” Information Ecology
Volume of
information
grows

47. The “New” Information Ecology
The variety of info
sources increases
and democratizes
and the visibility
of new creators is
enhanced in the
age of social
media.

48. The “New” Information Ecology
People’s vigilance for
information changes
in two directions:
1) attention is truncated
(Linda Stone)
2) attention is
elongated (Andrew
Keen; Terry Fisher)

49. The “New” Information Ecology
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

50. The “New” Information Ecology
The vibrance and
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact

51. The “New” Information Ecology
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

52. The “New” Information Ecology
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

53. The “New” Information Ecology
Nine in ten American adults For six in ten American
(92%) get news/info from multiple adults (59%), one of those
platforms on a typical day platforms is the internet
*Platforms include print newspapers, television, radio and the internet

54. The “New” Information Ecology
Where Americans
get their news
and information
on a typical day
38%
59% Online and Offline
Offline Only
Online Only
No News

55. The “New” Information Ecology
• The internet has not replaced/
displaced traditional media
but…
• It is fundamentally changing the way
people consume and interact with
information

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

57. The Online News/Info Consumer
71% of American adults Almost a third of online
ever get news or information news and information
online consumers are under age 30

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

59. 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

60. The Online News/Info Consumer
Most Popular Online Sources for News and Information
Portal Sites 56
TV News Org Site 46
Special Topic Site 38
Newspaper Site 38
Indiv or Org on SNS 30
Int'l News Org site 18
% of Online News/Info Consumers Who Use Each Site on a Typical Day

61. The Online News/Info Consumer
What Are the Most Popular Online News/Information Topics?
Weather 81
Nat'l Events 73
Health/Medicine 66
Business/Finance 64
Internat'l News 62
Arts and Culture 49
% of Online Adults Who Get News/Information Online About Each Topic

62. The Online News/Info Consumer
Most Popular Features of Online News Sites
Links to related material 68
72
Multi-media content 48
57
Portal/News aggregator 48
55
Easily share content 44
57 Total
42
Customize news 48 18-29
Interactive material 38
45
Ability to comment 37
51
Follow on soc media 25
39
% of Online News/Info Consumers Who Say Each Feature is Important

63. The Online News/Info Consumer
How many
websites, if
11% 11% any, do you
routinely rely on
21% for news and
information?
None
57% Just One
2 to 5
6 or more
% of Online News/Info Consumers

64. The Online News/Info Consumer
Online News/Info Consumers are…
• Efficient Grazers
• 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)

65. Online News and Information
Online News and
Information is…
• Portable
• Participatory
• Personalized

66. Online information is portable
• “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

67. Online information is participatory
• “News Participators”
– 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of
news, commented on it, or disseminated it via postings
on social media 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 consumers say being able to easily share
material with others 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.

68. 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

69. Online information is personalized
• “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

70. Leveraging New Technologies

71. 1996 Benton Foundation report:
“Buildings, books, and bytes”
"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.

72. 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

73. No longer think like this…
Your
institution
Patron Patron Patron

74. Now think like this…

75. How to become a
node in people’s
social networks

76. Tips on becoming a node in a social network
• Think like a friend, not an institution
• Play to your strengths by being an expert, a filter,
a recommender (linker), and a facilitator
• Be aware that your audience is bigger than the
available evidence provides – lurkers and future
arrivals are part of the mix
• Remember that your information can (will, should)
have an organic life beyond your presentation of it
• Look for opportunities to build communities with
your material

77. More tips on becoming a node in a social network
• Participate in the Web 2.0 world
• Embrace the move towards mobility, constant
connectivity, perpetual contact
– This changes the realities of time and space
and presence
• Ask for feedback
• Act on/respond to that feedback
• Provide opportunities for interaction with and
customization of material
• Facilitate information sharing

78. The 4-Step Flow of Information
• Attention
• Acquisition
• Assessment
• Action

79. 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 with your
patrons

80. The Four A’s of Online Information Flow
• Help with Information Assessment
– Exploit your skills in knowing the highest quality
material
– 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

81. Finally….
BE READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT!!
You never know when your material will go viral, be
picked up by a major organization, or create/mobilize
a community or following

82. Finally….
EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES!!
The internet, mobile technology and social media grant access
to populations that have been traditionally hard to reach:

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

84. Available at www.pewinternet.org...
• 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
• Chronic Disease and the Internet
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Chronic-Disease.aspx
• The Social Life of Health Information
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx

85. 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