The Pew Typology quiz, categorized me as an Ambivalent Networker. Yes, this result seems to fit me and my lifestyle. I am a "baby boomer", knocking at the door of 50 years old and by deault became part of the IT staff over 25 years ago at an insurance company. I have actually grown with the ICT's as part of my career path as well as my social life. I actually trained contact software for insurance agent/brokers for 7 years.
I feel the research and breakdowns were very detailed. The categories descriptions made me think of other individuals and thei usage of ICT's. My parents, for instance are almost 70 years old, both with college education. Neither one really cares for the convience of the internet, such as paying bills, but the cell phone, that's were they come alive. So I thought they could be considered "mobile newbies" or even "the tech indifferent", both seem to fit their life styles. While choosing one or the other would place them into to totally different categories, which are "Motivated by Mobility" or " Stationary Media Majority".
One more point, the demographics, I didn't quite agree. I realize that this was an average, and I'm considered an "Ambivalent Networker", whereby I am neither a male nor am I in my late 20's. Next, and this is a personal observation, when the new technolgy hits the streets, usually individuals of lower socio-economic status seem to have them.
Hi Tonya! I could see that this report may be slightly outdated even if it were finished recently. Technology is ever changing and updating. So like you, I feel as if the demographic results are skewed from actual results.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't agree with the demographics of the "Ambivalent Networker" and "Digital Collaborator". When I looked over the demographics for each group I noticed a lot of the groups were of people in their late 30s and up. None of the groups had my gender/age combination which I found to be quite odd.
ReplyDeleteHey Tonya. I too, am a baby boomer and my mother is well into her 70's, pushing 80. She has a hard time with technology of the last couple decades. I gave her one of my old computers several years back but she couldn't get the hang of it. She has finally gotten comfortable with the cell phone, but that's as far as her technology use goes (aside from plasma tv's and various household appliances). She is definitely in the "Off the Network" group.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother is also a huge cell phone user. I, like you, am an ambivalent networker. It will be interesting to see tests such as this one in the furture to see how "outdated" or "behind" we are compared to next generations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren's comment that this report may be a bit outdated even though the sample was taken four years ago. That's an eternity in technology years as it seems every few months some groundbreaking device or feature comes along, especially with companies constantly competing to release the next big thing. For an accurate sampling of today's users, it's almost as if the study must be conducted regularly to keep up.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not a baby boomer I can relate when you talk about your parents not being into the internet. My grandmother is the same way I alway offer to pay her bill online by she says, "no". She love getting a recipte right then and there for her bill. I try to explain to her that she will still get a comformation number over the internet but she claims she doesn't have time for all this new fancy stuff. lol
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