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7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

pewresearch.org

11–20 of 405 posts

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#11

I've been using the Internet since 1992-3. Lately I'm feeling more and more like these 7% have the right idea.

I often think of what life would be without using the internet. Observing a electronics sabbath usually on sat, seems like a good idea. Not Jewish but feel that the Rabbis of old were on to something.

Why not just turn off your router? Lightbulbs and refrigerators are surprisingly useful

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#12
post #4

Let’s suppose they call a customer service desk that uses Internet tools to help them—or they’ve paid for a transaction on Square. Have they technically indirectly been a beneficiary of the Internet? Does that count as using it?

Probably not, because if you count indirect uses, the rate goes to practically zero. The internet is deeply embedded in, for example, all of the infrastructure we use. Or your doctor will probably use the internet to look up symptoms and medications. So if they have any connection to society at all, you can say they indirectly benefited from the internet.

Technically, the few isolated island tribes might count as not benefiting from the internet.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#13

My dad doesn't use the Internet. Not on principle or anything, but he grew up without it, has friends but meets them in person or talks on the phone, same as he has for the past 40 years. He's retired now, but never needed it working as a skilled tradesman with a county job. In retirement, he still builds stuff, but physical stuff. No need for Internet. My ex-wife's mom also didn't use the Internet, but she was a sch…

Same with mine. And I'll be damned, he seems to get by just fine with letters and phone calls, probably with even less hassle than I have using only the internet and avoiding phone calls.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#14
post #4

Let’s suppose they call a customer service desk that uses Internet tools to help them—or they’ve paid for a transaction on Square. Have they technically indirectly been a beneficiary of the Internet? Does that count as using it?

No, not for this. It’s a survey with a specific question asking if they use the internet, and here in this context “use” undoubtedly means “access directly” and not “indirectly benefit from”.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that counts. It’s like calling someone a driver when they’ve only been a passenger.

Yeah, but they have been using a car. Not as driver, but as a way to get from A to B

A more apt comparison would be someone who doesn't use a car as a way to get from A to B, but still receives for instance mail delivery by motorized vehicle. Even if they wanted to opt out of that for some ideological reason, it's simply not an option.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#16
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that counts. It’s like calling someone a driver when they’ve only been a passenger.

Yeah, but they have been using a car. Not as driver, but as a way to get from A to B

Yes, but the fact that both the driver and the passenger have used the car is a specific fact relating to that instance which doesn't generalize to all transitivity relations -- it's still possible for John to ask Karn to do something which uses the internet and for John to not have used the internet.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#18

I've been using the Internet since 1992-3. Lately I'm feeling more and more like these 7% have the right idea.

I'm expecting the only thing that'll keep me on it in old age is VR chats with the grandkids or whatever. The rest of it's not worth the money, except that it's de facto required for work and (for the kids) school these days.

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#19
7% of Americans say they don't use the Internet when polled.

Some unknown percentage of that is the Lizardman's Constant[0], some of them mean "not much", plenty of them use the map on their phone and don't think that's "using the Internet", probably a decent amount who use Facebook to look at pictures of their grandkids but figure they aren't using the Internet because they don't own a computer (if you told them a smartphone is a computer they would look at you funny). Some are religious plain folk and genuinely don't use the Internet, some are retirees who only have a land line (and genuinely don't use the Internet).

[0]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/12/noisy-poll-results-and...

Re: 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

#20
Honestly, I wish I could stop using the internet.

I make a lot of things and enjoy sharing them because other people might find them useful. It has often led to wonderful and inspiring conversations. Yet it's obvious there's something very very wrong happening with American culture that began around the time of social media platform consolidation. "Being online" entails a distinct mindset and attitude that is incompatible with in-person socialization, but the two spaces are nonetheless continually mashed together and propagated by various forces in government and media. You have to ask yourself why.

I'm not sure of the answer but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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