From Pew Research (Internet & American Life Project), “A Portrait of Early Adopters: Why People First Went Online –and Why They Stayed.” Some interesting excerpts:
“Our canvassing of longtime internet users shows that the things that first brought them online are still going strong on the internet today. Then, it was bulletin boards; now, it’s social networking sites. Then, it was the adventure of exploring the new cyberworld; now, it’s upgrading to broadband and wireless connections to explore even more aggressively.
“Yet there are changes in their activities and motives. In the early days, most internet users consumed material from websites. These days they are just as likely to produce material. One common refrain is that they think more change lies ahead and they are eager to watch and participate.
“Though people might assume that the rapid uptake of the internet by businesses was the main driver of growth in the past decade, many of our respondents said they first went online for personal reasons, rather than professional or educational reasons. Fully 50% of the respondents stated they first went online for “personal” reasons; 31% said work was the cause; 19% said school was the cause. In fact, in a series of Pew Internet surveys going back to 2000, respondents have continuously cited personal reasons above work-related or school-related reasons as the cause for their first using the internet.” (full report here.)
We have bloggers here at Tizona’s who were some of those “early adopters,” and some who have never really known a world without the Internet. It’d be interesting to know why you first went online, what you did then, and how you’ve changed the way you use it. But, no goatse!!!
