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24% of UK intimidated by web
12 Oct 2009 | 23.48 Europe/London
Across the UK almost one in four is a "timid technophobe" - and the percentage is highest in the north east of England. That's according to new research, put together on behalf of TalkTalk and analysed by a social anthropologist from the University of Kent. It points to their being six "Digital Tribes" and suggests that "your openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it" will soon be more important to your future than your education or economic background.
The findings have been published in the impressive-sounding Digital Anthropology Report 2009. It states that, while the national average is around twenty-four per cent, thirty-one per cent of people in the North East are reluctant to use the Internet for anything other than checking their email or light browsing. At the opposite end of the scale, only fourteen percent of people in Northern Ireland think likewise; at Britain's epicentre, London, it's nineteen per cent.
According to Professor David Zeitlyn from the University of Kent, this means we could end up with a deeper digital divide on our hands. “Traditional class structures are changing fast and, based on how things are changing right now, it seems likely that your openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it will soon become more important in dictating your life chances than, say, your schooling or your parents’ economic status," he says. “But while this digital elite will emerge and thrive, it’s worrying that nearly a quarter of people are still scared by technology. This digital divide isn’t simply about access to technology - it’s about attitudes and behaviour. This could be the class divide of the future.”
The Digital Anthropology Report 2009 is certainly an interesting document - a rare blend of the cutting-edge marketing manoeuvre and tried-and-tested academic argot (thanks thesaurus!). Because anthropology is anything but an exact science, combining it with cold, hard percentages could be construed as misleading. As for the names of the six "tribes," they're seem like they're straight from a copywriter, with names like "Social Secretaries" and "E-ager Beavers" - as well as those "Timid Technophobes." TalkTalk even thrown some pen portraits of these people into the mix beside photos of models, making the whole thing come across like it could be a snazzy guide to the various accounts of offer at a bank. Here's an example from the spiel on "Andy, 3o, IT sales manager from Harpenden:"
In good news for prim-and-proper types, not one of the six tribes is apparently using the Internet to look for pornography. (That suggests that either there's a Battlestar Galactica-esq. extra tribe out there - or that certain unwholesome activities have been omitted. "Stuff" you, Andy.) Not that TalkTalk minds, of course. "This report has given us some important insights into how our customers use the internet and how they have made it fit in with their lives, and the findings can help us shape products and services that better appeal to the six tribes of homo digitalis and adapt to our changing behaviour in future,” said its Commercial Director, Tristia Clarke.
In that future, those who are currently "Digitally Excluded" will apparently be so no more. Instead, they'll be "replaced" by "Digital Refuseniks." From the report itself:-
Now, you can really go to town on a paragraph like that. If a person's "openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it" is more important than a person's education, how can education be linked to that person's likelihood to open their arms to technology in the first place? Why are privacy advocates digital refuseniks by default when we already have their web-savvy brethren waging campaigns against the likes of Phorm? What about nots-spots? And how and why are all these Luddities shopping at Tesco?
Ultimately, what the Digital Anthropology Report lacks is context. Dividing the country geographically and not factoring in variables like age, how well off people are and education levels makes it difficult to draw any real conclusions. If older people, for example, were more likely to be "Timid Technophobes" then the data would be skewed in areas where a greater proportion of the population was over, say, sixty - would that affect the futures of their grandchildren or not? The report may feature an academic, but academic it ain't.
The findings have been published in the impressive-sounding Digital Anthropology Report 2009. It states that, while the national average is around twenty-four per cent, thirty-one per cent of people in the North East are reluctant to use the Internet for anything other than checking their email or light browsing. At the opposite end of the scale, only fourteen percent of people in Northern Ireland think likewise; at Britain's epicentre, London, it's nineteen per cent.
According to Professor David Zeitlyn from the University of Kent, this means we could end up with a deeper digital divide on our hands. “Traditional class structures are changing fast and, based on how things are changing right now, it seems likely that your openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it will soon become more important in dictating your life chances than, say, your schooling or your parents’ economic status," he says. “But while this digital elite will emerge and thrive, it’s worrying that nearly a quarter of people are still scared by technology. This digital divide isn’t simply about access to technology - it’s about attitudes and behaviour. This could be the class divide of the future.”
The Digital Anthropology Report 2009 is certainly an interesting document - a rare blend of the cutting-edge marketing manoeuvre and tried-and-tested academic argot (thanks thesaurus!). Because anthropology is anything but an exact science, combining it with cold, hard percentages could be construed as misleading. As for the names of the six "tribes," they're seem like they're straight from a copywriter, with names like "Social Secretaries" and "E-ager Beavers" - as well as those "Timid Technophobes." TalkTalk even thrown some pen portraits of these people into the mix beside photos of models, making the whole thing come across like it could be a snazzy guide to the various accounts of offer at a bank. Here's an example from the spiel on "Andy, 3o, IT sales manager from Harpenden:"
I’ve always been interested in ‘stuff’ and finding out about things. That’s why I love the internet, because if I want to know something I can find out right now with no messing about. I like watching YouTube clips and looking at people’s holiday photos but I don’t feel confident enough to start sharing my own stuff yet. I don’t think Twitter’s for me – I just don’t feel the need to share every thought I have!
In good news for prim-and-proper types, not one of the six tribes is apparently using the Internet to look for pornography. (That suggests that either there's a Battlestar Galactica-esq. extra tribe out there - or that certain unwholesome activities have been omitted. "Stuff" you, Andy.) Not that TalkTalk minds, of course. "This report has given us some important insights into how our customers use the internet and how they have made it fit in with their lives, and the findings can help us shape products and services that better appeal to the six tribes of homo digitalis and adapt to our changing behaviour in future,” said its Commercial Director, Tristia Clarke.
In that future, those who are currently "Digitally Excluded" will apparently be so no more. Instead, they'll be "replaced" by "Digital Refuseniks." From the report itself:-
At the moment, people not using the internet are largely doing so because they don’t have the skills or the equipment to do so. As costs get lower and education levels increase, such explanations will more or less disappear. However, scepticism towards technology will continue, so it’s conceivable that a new group – dubbed “digital refuseniks” – will emerge in their place. This group could use the internet if it wished, but have taken a social or moral stance against its pervasiveness in modern life. To a greater or lesser extent, they are Luddites – preferring the old-fashioned ways and worrying about the impact technology has on society – and may become a stubbornly resistant tribe in the future. These are the sort of people who refuse to use Tesco Clubcards because they don’t want their shopping to be monitored.
Now, you can really go to town on a paragraph like that. If a person's "openness to new technology and willingness to embrace it" is more important than a person's education, how can education be linked to that person's likelihood to open their arms to technology in the first place? Why are privacy advocates digital refuseniks by default when we already have their web-savvy brethren waging campaigns against the likes of Phorm? What about nots-spots? And how and why are all these Luddities shopping at Tesco?
Ultimately, what the Digital Anthropology Report lacks is context. Dividing the country geographically and not factoring in variables like age, how well off people are and education levels makes it difficult to draw any real conclusions. If older people, for example, were more likely to be "Timid Technophobes" then the data would be skewed in areas where a greater proportion of the population was over, say, sixty - would that affect the futures of their grandchildren or not? The report may feature an academic, but academic it ain't.