The rise of the e-citizen Lee Rainie – Director E-Gov Web-Enabled Government Conference

“Oh, like you know something the Internet doesn’t know.”

The double-edged Internet Good wire Overcomes differences Creates opportunities Encourages tolerance Revives community Fosters creativity Enriches cultural production Enhances participation Bad wire Erodes tradition Creates balkanization Reduces privacy Destroys indigenous cultures Cuts back community involvement Encourages crime and anti-social behavior

The big picture 116 million American adults are online – 61% of all adults >35 million children, including 78% of teenagers 64 million-70 million online on any given day There is great churn in the Internet population

Popular activities on a typical day online – 51% Search engine – 29% News – 26% Surfing for fun – 22% Hobby info. – 20% Factoid search – 19% Work research – 19% Check weather – 18% Product info. – 14% Info. about leisure activities – 13% Sports – 12% Inst. messaging – 12% Political info. – 12% Govt. Web sites – 9% Banking – 10% Play game – 7% Medical info. – 7% Buy a product – 4% Job info. – 4% Create content – 4% Download music – 4%

Our findings - 1 People use to enhance connection and increase communication

Our findings – 2 Gender Race/ethnicity Socioeconomic status Age Parental status Internet-experience level Personal outlook Social environment Different people use the Internet differently

Our findings – 3 The Internet helps in everyday life

Our findings - 4 People use the Internet more seriously as they gain experience Their work-use grows The variety of their activities expands They perform more transactions Their content becomes more consequential

The growth in people’s online activities over a year’s time

Our findings – 5 The quality of Internet access matters “Look, Mom! A broadband digital subscriber line followed me home. Can we keep it?”

Our findings - 6 E-patients are creating a new health care environment clueless, isolated, doctor- dependent patient the net-savvy, well-connected doctor-independent, end-user

Our findings – 7 E-citizens are creating a new civic environment

The big picture on e- citizenship 68 million users of government Web sites Demographics - male, middle-aged, relatively well educated, financially upscale Other demographics – government workers, government trusters

What people do at govt. Web sites

The rise of e-citizens 42 million researched a policy 23 million sent comments 14 million gathered info. to help them cast votes 13 million participated in organized lobbying campaigns

How people rate the sites

The Internet and municipal life % of local officials use and the Internet in their official lives 61% use to communicate with citizens at least weekly 81% say use of gives them a better understanding of public opinion, but only 26% say has opened their eyes to new pockets of opinion

The Internet and municipal life - 2 Two thirds of local officials think use is a modestly effective p.r. tool 35% say they have been on the receiving end of lobbying campaigns But they say phone calls matter more

E-politics: and beyond Fourfold increase in Internet use for political information – impact grows Traditional news sources take over Youth audience grows, but no new voters Partisan searchers confirm their biases Political organizations are big winners

Sept. 11 and e-government What users did The commons of the tragedy How government webmasters responded and learned

The revolution of rising expectations 65% of all Americans and 82% of Internet users expect government info. and services on Web sites 71% of those who use them say they get what they want at least most of the time

Your next search for government information? Go online Phone call VisitLetter

Special concern: Digital Divide Half of non-users want to stay that way

Special concern: Privacy The contradiction is that Americans say they are very concerned about privacy, but do many trusting things online

About us Pew Internet & American Life Project 1100 Connecticut Ave. NW – Suite 710 Washington, D.C