pew

Can you borrow e-books at the library? Most don't know

Do you know if your local library lends e-books? If not, you're in good company.

A full 62 percent of people recently polled by Pew Internet admitted they had no idea whether they could borrow electronic books from their library system. Even among active library card holders, 58 percent expressed the same confusion.

Only 22 percent of those polled said they know their library carries e-books, while 14 percent said they know their library has no such program.

Even those who would take advantage of e-book lending are unsure of their library's policy.

More than half (55 percent) … Read more

Twitter usage doubled since late 2010, Pew study finds

The fraction of "online" adults who use Twitter on a typical day has quadrupled over the past 18 months -- to 8 percent from 2 percent, according to a new Pew report on Internet use. Eight percent is roughly one user in twelve (a little less, actually.)

Pew defines an online adult as someone who uses the Internet and/or e-mail, at least occasionally. According to Pew, 80 percent of all U.S. adults go online.

Smartphones may have had something to do with increased Twitter usage, Pew suggests, "because smartphone users are particularly likely to be … Read more

Pew: Smartphones narrow digital divide

Mobile devices are bringing more Americans online, but one in five adults is still not on the Internet, according to a Pew Internet survey published today.

The study, based on more than 2,000 phone calls in English and Spanish, shows that certain segments of the U.S. population are not inclined to go online. The top reasons given were lack of interest, no computer, expense, or the difficulty of getting online.

"Senior citizens, those who prefer to take our interviews in Spanish rather than English, adults with less than a high school education, and those living in households … Read more

Twitter's newest member: Former Golden Girl Betty White

One of the Golden Girls made it to Twitter. Rose, whoops, Betty White debuted her official page today with her first tweet reading, "Hello Twitter! And they said it would never happen. Oh wait, that was me."

The 90-year-old actor now has nearly 63,000 followers and only three tweets. Most likely White has turned to social media to promote her two new TV shows, "Off Their Rockers" and "Hot in Cleveland." She is also a voice actor in the movie "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," which recently premiered.

Many older adults use … Read more

People who love e-reading simply love reading

Things might be starting to look up for booksellers, authors, and publishers. A report released today by the Pew Research Center shows that one-fifth of U.S. adults have read an e-book in the last year and that e-reader owners not only prefer to buy rather than borrow books, but they also read more books.

"Those who have taken the plunge into reading e-books stand out in almost every way from other kinds of readers," the report's authors write. "Foremost, they are relatively avid readers of books in all formats: 88 percent of those who read … Read more

Pew: Apps, Web to meld, but latter comes out ahead

In the ongoing debate over apps vs. HTML5, a Pew survey finds that tech experts believe the Web will be more dominant in 2020 relative to apps.

According to the survey released today, 35 percent of respondents see apps as the dominant way to deliver content, but 59 percent choose the Web. The rest didn't pick.

The exact wording of the pro-app statement went like this:

"In 2020, most people will prefer to use specific applications (apps) accessible by Internet connection to accomplish most online work, play, communication, and content creation. The ease of use and perceived security … Read more

Teens prefer texting over phone calls, e-mail

Year after year, study after study, teens are proving to be texting at an increasing rate. In a new survey by the Pew Internet Research Center, U.S. teenagers are talking on landlines and cell phone less, using more smartphones, and are averaging 60 texts a day--up from 50 in 2009.

"Teens are fervent communicators," senior research specialist at Pew Amanda Lenhart writes in the study. "Straddling childhood and adulthood, they communicate frequently with a variety of important people in their lives: friends and peers, parents, teachers, coaches, bosses, and a myriad of other adults and institutions.&… Read more

Women leading Facebook defriending trend, study says

It's Friday and therefore time to muse about friendship.

Here's one thought: If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then my friend may, in fact, be more troubling and irrelevant than Ann Taylor separates.

Here's another: People appear to suddenly be realizing that their Facebook friends are not--and will never be--real friends. Oddly, though, they are finally doing something about it.

I am grateful to my nonfriends at ReadWriteWeb, who have unearthed a new Pew study that says defriending is trending on Facebook.

People are finally wandering around their Facebook garden and, perhaps stimulated by … Read more

Social networking filled with mixed emotions, Pew finds

Life in cyberspace turns out to be about as complicated as real life.

The Pew Research Center today released a report that documents the social and emotional climate for American adults on social-networking sites. For the most part, that climate is a positive one, the survey found.

Pew says the report is the result of a survey on Americans' use of the Internet. The survey was done via telephone interview on both landlines and cell phones last year from July 25 to August 26, with 2,260 adults, age 18 or older, participating.

According to the report, 85 percent of social-network-using adults deduced from social media that people are mostly kind, while at the same time almost half of them said they have seen mean or cruel behavior displayed by others at least occasionally.… Read more