5 Percent of Americans Don't Use the Internet At All

A recent study by the Pew center for research revealed that at least 5% of Americans don't use the internet at all. To me, that number is surprising, because in this super connected world be live in, even the homeless have blogs and access to the internet. Wi-Fi is everywhere, and if you live in an urban area, you can probably get online almost anywhere. It left me baffled.

And it seems that I am not the only one. In a really great article at Techcrunch, Erick Schonfeld had this to say-

The Pew research center put out survey results on broadband adoption and Internet use in America. There was one data point that I found startling. According to the survey, 21 percent of American adults say they don’t use the Internet. One fifth of all Americans.

This isn’t just people who do not use broadband (which is 66 percent of American adults). It also includes people who don’t use dial-up (another 5 percent). These people don’t use the Internet at all. That is like not using the telephone.

The number is a bit inflated because a third (34 percent) of these self-described non-users live in a house with Internet access or have family members who use the Internet regularly. They just don’t think the information on the Internet is relevant to their lives (48 percent), are uncomfortable with computers (60 percent), and are not interested in getting online (90 percent).

Who are these people? I can understand why elderly Americans who didn’t grow up with computers not seeing the need for them. And that is certainly reflected in the broadband numbers. Only 31 percent of people 65 or older are on broadband, compared to 80 percent for those 18-to-29 years old. People without a high school education, with low incomes, or who live in rural areas also are less likely to use broadband. It is likely that these demographic groups also make up a disproportionate number of the non-users.

I can remember the first time that I dialed up to a BBS service in the summer of '91, and then in '93 or '94 I joined AOL and tried to think of ways to make my internet time as little as possible because they charged by the hour. And let me tell you, it was hard to do anything quickly when you are working with a phone line and a 12k modem. Since then, I hopped on the broadband bandwagon in '98. Luckily I had a job with one of the first broadband providers and was given a chance to beta test it, and I haven't gone back to dial up since. So, maybe my world view is a bit skewed because the internet has been such a large part of my life for so long. But I wonder about the people who still use dial up or the ones who don't use the internet at all. The survey was conducted by telephone, so the respondents would have to be people with access to telephones and who are be able to listen to questions and respond, so that would exclude those who have limitation that would prevent them from using a computer or the seniors who are in nursing home or long term care. Anyway you look at it, the number is still surprising.

So, when did you first get online? Did you ever use dial up? Do you still use it? Do you know someone who has no interest in going online?

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.