The Pew Internet and American Life Project really cranks out the research. The latest one, A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users, is, despite the catchy title, a great read full of valuable insights. For example, based on their survey of 4,000 American adults, we break down as such…
The elite users of information and communications technology (ICT) consist of four groups that have the most information technology, are heavy and frequent users of the internet and cell phones and, to varying degrees, are engaged with user-generated content. Members of these groups have generally high levels of satisfaction about the role of ICTs in their lives, but the groups differ on whether the extra availability is a good thing or not.
The middle-of-the-road users consist of two groups whose outlook toward information technology is task-oriented. They use ICTs for communication more than they use it for self-expression. One group finds this pattern of information technology use satisfying and beneficial, while the other finds it burdensome.
For those with few technology assets (four groups), modern gadgetry is at or near the periphery of their daily lives. Some find it useful, others don’t, and others simply stick to the plain old telephone and television.
Front Porch Forum members, I estimate, are scattered across all of these categories… not just the tech elites. In April 2006 (when the survey was completed), 73% of Americans labeled themselves as internet users (same as cell phones).
Pew reports that 18% of respondents “post comments to an online news group or website,” while 8% have a blog. Looking at the last six months in our flagship Five Sisters Neighborhood Forum, 90% of the neighborhood subscribes and a full 50% of that group posted to their neighborhood forum in the past six months.
Steve Hendrix wrote in The Washington Post today about the widespread use of neighborhood email lists in and around Washington, DC. Read here for lots of interesting examples. (Thanks to E-Democracy.org for the tip.) Also noted…
According to the Pew Center‘s Internet and American Life Project, 55 percent of Internet users subscribed to e-mail group lists in 2006 as a way of maintaining ties with the community or hobby groups they belonged to, up from 32 percent in 2001.
Yahoo, which provides free hosting services in exchange for implanting small ads at the bottom of each message, says it handles more than 8 million groups with more than 100 million members.
So there’s a huge demand for neighborhood email lists and a huge number of people are not yet served. Further, the leading provider in the sector now, Yahoo Groups, is decidedly user-unfriendly and not accessible to lots of people with low computer skills (based on personal experience trying to guide many folks onto and around various Yahoo Groups that I’ve been involved with).
This adds up to great potential for Front Porch Forum.
Just got an invitation to a gathering at Google NYC! It’s the speakers’ cocktail party for the Personal Democracy Forum. Photo ID required to get into the party… guess we’re not in Vermont anymore. 😉
Front Porch Forum is on the agenda, alongside some A-List political bloggers (Huffington Post, TPM), successful dot.com entrepreneurs (craigslist, Wikipedia), Presidential campaign online directors (Edwards, McCain, Joe Trippi), best-selling authors (Thomas Friedman), etc. Very exciting. The conference is May 18 at Pace University. I’ll write about the experience here.
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more