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

pewresearch.org

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

#341

Post by silverfox17 »

busterarm wrote: post #327
lmm wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you try just... not following the outrage parts? Not getting outraged? If you want to spend more time connecting with people you care about, getting rid of facebook feels like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Here's the guy telling everyone they're using heroin wrong and the fact that it destroys their life is their problem. No, guy. The concensus is growing around social media being really fucking toxic.

Just don't follow toxic sources, that's all he's advocating. If someone's sharing memes from a crazy political page, either block that page or remove the friend.

People say social media like Facebook is toxic for the most part because they only deal with toxic people.

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

#342

Post by daniellarusso »

ghaff wrote: post #271
daniellarusso wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up, my friend’s parents literally had 100s of VHS tapes, of many TV series and movies they had dubbed. There was always something to watch. Of course, you had to physically be at their house.

Or you could go down to the local video store and rent something (or, for that matter, go to a movie theater). I'd probably argue that pre-VCR was more different from post-VCR than time-shifting/rental era was different from today's streaming. As with many things, the friction and need to plan is less today but the VCR freed you from the network schedule to a significant degree.

Most pop-and-pop stores only had a few copies of each movie, so it was not always easy to get ‘in-stock’ content.

Alot of the videotapes in my friend’s parent’s home was either dubbed or recorded from a pay tv station.

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

#344

Post by dfxm12 »

xkeysc0re wrote: post #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 incompa…

Yet it's obvious there's something very very wrong happening with American culture that began around the time of social media platform consolidation.

I can only guess at what you're referring to, but do keep in mind that American culture had wrong things happening from the start through today. From when they colonized the land, to slavery, through the KKK, Japanese internment camps during WWII, violent union busting, manufacturing consent for pointless wars and so on. You're just more aware of it now because of the Internet. Yes, it is hard to come to terms with knowing that people you know, or even love and respect, support things you consider inhumane, but sticking your head in the sand isn't going to make it go away or change this, though.

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

#345

Post by mywittyname »

protomyth wrote: post #276
hehetrthrthrjn wrote: post #66

Roughly speaking: it's the old, the poor, the uneducated, and the rural. That's not terribly surprising.

I'm betting a lot of rural folks have better internet than those in Silicon Valley. Given I live and work among the poor, rural, and forgotten and the internet (Facebook, Netflix) is being used all the time, I doubt the geography aspect. I do want to see this studies raw questions/ data gathering.

So, I have lots of family that live in rural areas. Rural being defined as can't see the neighbor's house + unpaved roads off of roads named with only three numbers (ie, take 765 to 321, turn left on 997, keep an eye out for the fence on the left) + no sewage + 1+hr commutes to Walmart or Dollar General.

Their internet availability is satellite. They have phone lines, but are too far out for DSL. Some have cable, so they can get like 3mb for $80/mo or something. I can get edge service on my cell sometimes, but it's basically unusable.

You're probably thinking more of the exurbs. Houses with like 1-5 acres of land off of a county highway or something.

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

#346

Post by karaterobot »

User23 wrote: post #284

I bet an online poll asking “do you use the Internet?” would probably also get on the order of 7% negative responses.

If Lizardman's Constant is really 4%, that would be the safe minimum safe bet.

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

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

#347

Post by kleer001 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #183
wxnx wrote: post #73

A significant portion of the US is illiterate [1]. One might assume that being illiterate affects internet usage. Not quite as romantic as neo-Luddism, or even making a conscious choice not to expose oneself to potentially problematic patterns of communication. [1] https://nces.ed.gov/datapoints/2019179.asp

I sometimes wonder how much illiteracy or lack of vocabulary and comprehension skills has to do with popularity of Instagram and tiktok and the videos that people make of themselves talking to the camera. Also for people only fluent in languages that aren’t popular online. My parents aren’t able to parse most online English discussion, and I’m sure it’s tiring to try to understand just like it would be if I tried a d…

> I sometimes wonder how much illiteracy ... Instagram and tiktok ... themselves talking to the camera.

I bet it's near 0%. That looks more like a lack of enjoyment of reading if anything.

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

#348

Post by rhino369 »

splithalf wrote: post #308

People rationalize with “I don’t look at the bad parts” and “I can quit anytime I choose, I just choose not to right now.” People don’t see that they’re addicted to something that is destroying all that is good. Using Facebook or Twitter on a regular basis is bad, in some cases it turns lethal. Even worse is functional addiction, where it warps you slowly over the years, too gradually to notice. We regulate big pharm…

Absolutely many people are addicted to social media.

But many more people aren't. I'm able to use facebook and twitter moderately, but regularly (less than 10 minutes a day on average, never any more than 20 minutes in one day).

That said, I think its possible to create social media that works 100% for me without being so addiction forming in other people.

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

#349

Post by Johnny555 »

mywittyname wrote: post #336
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be willing to bet your brother is happier and more mentally stable than the vast majority of Americans.

I bet the opposite. He probably drives around listening to rage-inducing talk radio hosts all day. Then gets to jobs sites where he vents his rage with all the other guys. This stuff existed long before facebook.

You've got that spot on -- he's also a die-hard Trump supporter, and thinks the only reason Trump lost was because the mainstream media treated him so unfairly. Now that our parents passed away, he's the lone republican in the family, and keeps drifting farther to the right. Political discussions are off limits during family gatherings.

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

#350

Post by busterarm »

agumonkey wrote: post #335
busterarm wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the guy telling everyone they're using heroin wrong and the fact that it destroys their life is their problem. No, guy. The concensus is growing around social media being really fucking toxic.

He has a point, partially.. I used to use twitter, but naturally curating it with only funny or smart thinkers and creators. My view was mostly impressive tech, art or coding (one dude made fluid simulation in gl shaders). It was peaceful. Thing is, you're still close to the toxic web you regularly step into it .. and that's why i'm banned from twitter now.

These apps are still _by design_ trying to capture the maximum amount of your attention.

That deserves every ounce of hostility that we can muster. And then some.

They are parasites. It doesn't matter if you "made it work for you".

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