Networked Individuals: How they are reshaping social life and learning environments

NETWORKED INDIVIDUALS
How they are reshaping social life and
learning environments

Lee Rainie
Director – Pew Internet Project
University of Connecticut Libraries
Spring Forum
4.14.10

New information ecosystem: 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
Networked Individuals April 14, 2010 2

The internet is the change agent
Then and now

2000 2010
46% of adults use internet 75% of adults use internet
5% with broadband at home 62% with broadband at home
50% own a cell phone 80% own a cell phone
0% connect to internet 53% connect to internet
wirelessly wirelessly
<10% use “cloud” >two-thirds use “cloud”
= slow, stationary = fast, mobile connections
connections built around my built around outside servers
computer and storage

Media ecology – then (industrial age)
Product Route to home Display Local storage

TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track
broadcast TV radio
broadcast radio stereo Vinyl album

News mail

Advertising newspaper delivery phone
paper
Radio Stations non-electronic

Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co


Media ecology – now (information age)
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites Ubiquitous computing age
satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from Cloud computing
express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory

“Internet of things”
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable box
Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console
game console paper
Satellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

37% of adults own DVRs –
Media ecology – now (information age) 2002
up from 3% in
48% of Route to homeown laptops – Local storage
Product adults Display
TV stations up from 30% in 2006
DSL TV Satellite radio player
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content 37% of adults own game consoles
books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
18% of adults own
Content from
individuals
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
personal gaming devices
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable box
game console paper
Satellite radio 43% of adults own MP3 players –
e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
up from 11% in 2005

Media ecology – now (information age)
TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player
“Daily me” … and this all affects social networks
broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets 1) their composition
broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites
Local news 2) the way people use them
satellite
mail
monitor
headphones
web storage/servers
CD/CD-ROM
Content from
individuals
3) their importance
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
4) the way associations can play a part in them
Peer-to-peer
Advertising
subcarriers / WIFI
newspaper delivery
cell phone
non-electronic
pagers - PDAs
cable box
game console paper
Satellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle

Behold the idea of networked individualism
Barry Wellman – University of Toronto

The turn by
people from
groups to social
networks = a
new social
operating
system


Technology has helped people change their
networks

• Bigger
• Looser
• More segmented
• More layered
=
• More liberated
• More work
• More important as sources of support and
information, filters, curators, audience


Big societal forces pushing us toward
networked individualism

• Affluence and affordable technology
• Expanding consumer options
• Income and wealth volatility
• Job security and longevity
• Rise of free agency and freelancing
• Changes in family composition, roles,
responsibilities
• Trends towards management of retirement
and health care
• Rise of DIY politics and religion

9 ways the inform and
influence ecosystem has
changed in the digital age and
pushed along networked
individualism

Information ecosystem change – 1

Volume of
information
grows


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

Social networking

57% of online adults use social
network sites
73% of online teens use them


Picture sharing

~50% of online adults post pictures online
~70% of online teens do that

Posting comments on websites/blogs

26% of adults post comments on sites


Twitter

19% of adults use Twitter or other status
update methods
8% of teens use them


Blogs

11% of online adults keep blogs
14% of online teens keep them
>40% of internet users read blogs



People’s vigilance
for information
changes in two
directions:
1) attention is
truncated (Linda
Stone)
2) attention is
elongated (Andrew
Keen; Terry Fisher)


Velocity of
information
increases and
smart mobs
emerge

84% of online adults are in a group with online presence
~50% belong to listservs or regular group emails
~40% get email or text alerts


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



The vibrance and 1) Augmented Reality
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project



The vibrance and 2) Mirror Worlds
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project



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 webpages



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



Social networks
become more vivid
and meaningful.
Media-making is
part of social
networking.
“Networked
individualism” takes
hold.


Networked Individuals … have a different …
• Sense of information availability – it’s ambient and “I
control the playlist”
• Sense of time – it’s oriented around “continuous
partial attention” and then intense digging
• Sense of community and connection – it’s about
“absent presence” as much as its about
“membership”
• Sense of the rewards and challenges of networking
for social, economic, political, and cultural purposes
– new layers and new audiences


The dark sides of networked individualism?

• Tech-induced isolation
• Tech-induced distractions – danger and
diversions
• Loss of privacy
• Social balkanization and intensifying
extremism
• Failures of “information markets”
• New tools for bad people and bad groups


Why good social networks (and social
networking) matter

• Healthier
• Wealthier
• Happier
• More civically engaged = better communities
-----------------------------
• Diversity makes a difference – you creating
“bridging” and “bonding” social capital
• Size of network makes a difference – you add to
people’s deposits of social capital


Thank you!

Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie
202-419-4500


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