15% in U.S. Shun Internet; Most Intend to Stay Offline
September 26th, 2013Via: AFP:
Despite a seemingly unstoppable move to digital lifestyles, some 15 percent of Americans don’t use the Internet, and most are quite content to remain offline, a survey shows.
The survey released Wednesday found that in addition to the 15 percent of adults who don’t use the Internet on any device, another nine percent say they only go online at their workplace.
The report by the Pew Research Center found a whopping 92 percent of these “offline adults” with no interest in using the Internet or email in the near future.
“A lot of people are surprised to discover that not everyone is online,” said Kathryn Zickuhr, a Pew researcher and author of the report.
“Most offline adults either don’t see the Internet as relevant to them, or feel that it would not be worth the effort. And though many have had some experiences with the Internet in the past, most non-Internet users say they are not interested in going online in the future.”
The survey found 34 percent of the offline Americans said the Internet is not relevant to them, that they are not interested, do not want to use it, or have no need for it.
Another 32 percent in this group said they believe using the Internet is difficult or frustrating to use, or cite issues such as spam, spyware, and hackers.
Pew found 19 percent of non-Internet users cited the expense of owning a computer or online connections, and just seven percent said the Internet was not available to them.
