Four or More: The New Demographic Mary Madden Pew Internet & American Life Project LITA President’s Program ALA – June 27, 2010 (and a bunch of other really interesting stuff)

Four or More

Common assumptions about tech use: Everyone uses the internet Every teen has a cell phone… … and all teens text constantly, sending an insane number of messages a day Teens no longer call anyone on the phone Teens and young adults have been supplanted by older adults on social networks The youngest are always the first tech adopters Young adults don’t care about privacy, particularly online June 27,

Four or More

Young adults lead in cell phone adoption

Four or More June 27,

Four or More

June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More Teens & young adults still more likely to use SNS

Four or More SNS use typically starts in high school…

Four or More Teens are not always the first adopters… Twitter use among teens

Four or More Who gives a tweet?

Four or More June 27,

Four or More June 27,

Four or More Thinking about the ways you use social networking sites… Do you ever… All SNS users Change the privacy settings for your profile to limit what you share with others online Delete people from your network or friends’ list Keep some people from seeing certain updates Filter updates posted by some of your friends Delete comments that others have made on your profile Remove your name from photos that have been tagged to identify you Post updates, comments, photos or videos that you later regret sharing Young adults are curators of content

Four or More Four or more: Who are they? Under age 50 Mostly male Racially diverse Higher SES *All analysis of the 4+ group based on September 2009 data

Four or More Younger than average, not as young as you might think AgeFour or MoreAll Adults %21% %35% %25% 65+1%16% June 27,

Four or More Just as racially diverse as the general population Race / ethnicityFour or MoreAll Adults White69% African-American10%12% Hispanic12%13% Other9%6% June 27,

Four or More More typical indicators: Mostly men (64% vs. 36% - relative to 48% vs. 52% avg.) Somewhat more likely to be college grads (37% vs. 28% avg.) Somewhat more likely to earn $75K+ per yr. (33% vs. 21% avg.) June 27,

Four or More What devices are they using? Among the four or more group: –97% own desktops (vs. 62%) –96% own laptops (vs. 47%) –98% own cell phones (vs. 84%) –97% own iPods/MP3 players (vs. 43%) –85% own game consoles (vs. 37%) –57% own portable gaming devices (vs. 18%) –13% own e-book readers (vs. 3%)

Four or More Mobile devices = mobile access Those who own multiple internet- enabled devices are almost all wireless internet users: –Among those who have one device: 24% use wireless –Two devices: 89% use wireless –Three devices: 100% use wireless –Four devices: 100% use wireless

Four or More Internet everywhere Among the four or more group: –91% go online daily (vs. 68%) –75% go online from both home and work (vs. 51%) –78% go online from someplace other than home/work (vs. 48%)  All rates are significantly higher than those for broadband users

Four or More Social media matters –77% have created their own profile on an SNS site (vs. 46%) –50% visit SNS sites on a typical day (vs. 27%) –39% use Twitter or status updating (vs. 19%) –24% have created a blog (vs. 11%)

Four or More Online reputation matters –77% have searched for information connected to their name online (vs. 57%) –50% say they take steps to limit the amount of information available about them online (vs. 33%) –33% work for a company that has a policy about self-presentation online (vs. 25%) –25% are required to promote themselves online as part of their job (vs. 12%) –16% have asked to have online content about them taken offline (vs. 8%)

Four or More Thinking about the ways you use social networking sites… Do you ever… All SNS users Four or more Change the privacy settings for your profile to limit what you share with others online 6572 Delete people from your network or friends’ list5667 Keep some people from seeing certain updates5261 Filter updates posted by some of your friends4155 Delete comments that others have made on your profile3641 Remove your name from photos that have been tagged to identify you 3033 Post updates, comments, photos or videos that you later regret sharing 127 Four or more and profile management

Four or More Implications for libraries  Question broadly held assumptions about tech use (me and a friend don’t always make a trend)  Patrons will increasingly rely on multiple access points and cloud-supported apps  Mobile internet users are social media users  Privacy and reputation management are exceptionally important to the most tech- savvy groups

Thanks! Contact info: Mary Madden Web: