10 posts and columns on Pew Internet & American Life Project

News Byte

20 Percent of Americans Say They’re Reading eBooks

in Media on April 4 at 7:00 pm PT

One in five Americans say they’ve read an e-book in the last year, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Those numbers come from a late-January survey, they’re up sharply from a December 2011 survey. Pew says the jump coincides with a jump in e-reading devices: Ownership of dedicated e-reader devices like the Kindle and the Nook went from 10 percent in December to 19 percent in January, and ownership of tablets like iPads and Kindle Fires made the same leap.

Fighting for Information

Like that’s how most people start fighting because that’s how most of the fights in my school happen — because of some Facebook stuff, because of something you post, or like because somebody didn’t like your pictures.

– A middle school girl who took part in the Pew study “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites”

E-Reader Growth Outpacing Tablets in Recent Months

in Mobile on June 27, 2011 at 3:09 pm PT

Some 12 percent of U.S. adults now own a Kindle, Nook or other e-reader, compared with 8 percent who own an iPad or other tablet. Surprisingly, e-reader growth has accelerated over the last six months, while tablet growth has actually slowed somewhat, according to a new survey from the Pew Internet Project.
ereaders

News Byte

Pew Study: The Well-Off Use the Net More

in News on November 24, 2010 at 11:20 am PT

This just in from the Department of Unsurprising Research Results: The nation’s wealthier households are more likely than those less blessed to own technology gear and use the Internet. According to recent surveys by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, those making $75,000 a year and up are more likely to: Have desktops, laptops, music players and game consoles; tap into the Internet frequently and for a greater variety of tasks; and engage in e-commerce. One other note: Even among households with similar access to the Net, the wealthier were more active users.

News Byte

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Affordable Broadband?

in News on August 12, 2010 at 12:53 pm PT

Should it be the government’s responsibility to make affordable broadband Internet access available to everyone in the country? About 53 percent of Americans think not, or think that it shouldn’t be a top priority, according to a study released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Only 11 percent think of it as a high priority. Interestingly, those least inclined toward government involvement are the 80 million currently without any Internet access at all.

Is Everyone Using Twitter Yet? Nope.

in Media on October 22, 2009 at 6:52 am PT

It’s easy to get the impression that everyone uses Twitter. And many people do! But new statistics indicate that four of five Web users are still Twitter-free. Worth keeping in mind as Google and Microsoft start plugging tweets into search results.
weegee-crowd

The End of Newspapers, in Chart Form

in Media on May 22, 2009 at 9:53 am PT

I’m still not exactly sure why Google has become the chief suspect in the “Who Killed Newspapers” investigation playing out before our very eyes. Because it’s quite clear to me that the real baddie here is bespectacled, mild-mannered Craig Newmark, whose eponymous free service blew up the industry’s most profitable line of business: classified advertising. Here’s the argument in line-graph form.
crater

The 168-Hour Work Week

in News on December 15, 2008 at 11:34 am PT

If the line between your work and home life hasn’t yet been blurred by near-ubiquitous Internet connectivity, just you wait. Because by 2020 it’s likely to have been erased entirely. That’s the word from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, whose recent “Future of the Internet III” study suggests that the dawn of the mobile phone as a “primary” Internet connection will essentially obliterate the boundaries between work and home.