PEW research asks, why are some Americans not online?

... then doesn't answer.

April 2, 2021
7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they ...?
By Andrew Perrin and Sara Atske

[Quote]Internet non-adoption is linked to a number of demographic variables, but is strongly connected to age – with older Americans continuing to be one of the least likely groups to use the internet. Today, 25% of adults ages 65 and older report never going online, compared with much smaller shares of adults under the age of 65.

Educational attainment and household income are also indicators of a person’s likelihood to be offline. Some 14% of adults with a high school education or less do not use the internet, but that share falls as the level of educational attainment increases. Adults living in households earning less than $30,000 a year are far more likely than those whose annual household income is $75,000 or more to report not using the internet (14% vs. 1%).

There are no statistically significant differences in non-internet use by gender, race and ethnicity, or community type.
Offline population has declined substantially since 2000

Despite some groups having persistently lower rates of internet adoption, the vast majority of Americans are now online, as ongoing government and social service programs encourage internet adoption in underserved areas. Over time, the nation’s offline population has been shrinking, and for some groups that change has been especially dramatic. For example, 86% of adults ages 65 and older did not go online in 2000; today that figure has fallen to just a quarter.

The share of offline adults ages 50 to 64 has dropped 8 percentage points since 2019, from 12% to 4%. The shares of offline Black and Hispanic adults have also fallen significantly during that period, from 15% to 9% among those who are Black and from 14% to 5% among those who are Hispanic.




https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/02/7-of-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/

IMHO, nothing happens in Washington or Silicon Valley anymore that isn't intended, in part, to make everyone internet dependent.

does everyone need to be on the internet? is it impossible to live life without a computer?

Ask a democrat in Congress or any state legislature. *sarcasm*

Calypso Jones wrote:does everyone need to be on the internet?  is it impossible to live life without a computer?

Virtually.

virtually virtual.

Lummy wrote:IMHO, nothing happens in Washington or Silicon Valley anymore that isn't intended, in part, to make everyone internet dependent.

At least that answers my question.  'Why do the they care?'

Their presumptuousness knows no bounds, though.  According to them, surely there has to be a reason for this malady. 'Must be because they're poor, or afraid of change, or just plain too dumb.'
Believe it or not, you self-aggrandized little prigs, some people choose not to be on the internet.  Another shock:  Not everything that interests you, interests everyone else.  (If that hurts, go see a therapist.)

Besides, how can any [b]intelligent[/i] person believe those stats, when most know it can't be "because they are too poor?"  With all the surcharges we've been paying for years, "to provide internet for the destitute," all of North and South America ought to be covered, along with throwing  in Nigeria and Uganda just for kicks.

Gad, how people who play 'research' for PEW(K) make me want to pull ears and smack heads together, followed by a swift kick up the backside.


But you're right, @Lummy; they never did come up w/a definitive answer.

Calypso Jones wrote:does everyone need to be on the internet?  is it impossible to live life without a computer?

It wouldn't be as easy, but can be done.  All the info on a computer is available at the local library.  They still make phone books w/Yellow Pages, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.  

One push I seriously don't appreciate is the near insistence that all have an I-phone, or SmartPhone, or whatever.  It's the only way you can get store coupons or Rx discounts anymore.
I choose to go without, thank you.

2cent wrote:

Calypso Jones wrote:does everyone need to be on the internet?  is it impossible to live life without a computer?

It wouldn't be as easy, but can be done.  All the info on a computer is available at the local library.  They still make phone books w/Yellow Pages, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.  

One push I seriously don't appreciate is the near insistence that all have an I-phone, or SmartPhone, or whatever.  It's the only way you can get store coupons or Rx discounts anymore.
I choose to go without, thank you.

It can be done for personal reasons, but much more difficult if you work remotely. Trading going in to an office vs working from home isn't one most people would make in order to avoid being on the internet.

2cent wrote:

Calypso Jones wrote:does everyone need to be on the internet?  is it impossible to live life without a computer?

It wouldn't be as easy, but can be done.  All the info on a computer is available at the local library.  They still make phone books w/Yellow Pages, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.  

One push I seriously don't appreciate is the near insistence that all have an I-phone, or SmartPhone, or whatever.  It's the only way you can get store coupons or Rx discounts anymore.
I choose to go without, thank you.

no kidding. they ASSume you have one and look either stricken or horrified when you tell them you don't.