[Sigia-l] Web Usage Study

[Scott, Josephine]

This interesting study covered in the NY Times discusses people who have
access but choose not to use the Web:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/17/technology/circuits/17shun.html?th

You may need to register with NYT to read the story; registration is free.

Researchers have uncovered a significant group of nonusers (42 percent of
American adults) who have access to the Web and choose not to use it.
Within that group is a subset of dropouts who stopped using it because were
disappointed or did not find what they were looking for.  

The researchers indicate that they were surprised by this finding; so much
so that they went to lengths to verify the information. It had been assumed
that people who did not use the Web did so because of financial
circumstances or because of the challenge presented by using technology (as
with senior users.)  However, many of these people are quite comfortable
with technology and may be quite young, but simply prefer other means of
communication.  They often eschew the Web even when family and friends near
them use it frequently.

My personal take: Its about time!  Glad to have them statistically verify
what most of us observe every day. No medium ever completely replaces
another:  We still have fans of paper and ink, of radio, television, the
telephone (which is taking on a technologically revitalized role) and so on.
Why did it take so long for this group to be identified and why are
researchers surprised?


Josephine Scott
Usability Specialist



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