One in Five adults choose not to use the internet
If you took a poll of every college student in the United States, I'm pretty sure it would be 100% of them use the internet daily and frequently. Likewise, almost all professions outside of manual labor require the use of the Internet frequently. The internet is becoming a part of life that can not be avoided.
People use the internet for education, finding jobs, receiving news, staying in touch with friends and family and many other reasons. When I read an article on CNN, it is stated that in a new PEW report a pole shows that one in five adults do not use the internet.
When I read this, I figured the one in five adults are probably people who cannot afford the internet or did not see the need to pay for the aspects that the internet could provide them, but as I read further money was the second monist reason, the number one reason was that the others just don't feel the need to use the internet.
The report explained that, "Among current non-internet users, almost half (48%) say the main reason they don't go online now is because they don't think the internet is relevant to them -- often saying they don't want to use the internet and don't need to use it to get the information they want or conduct the communication they want".
Obviously, many of these people who don't use the internet are older (59%) and there are several other reasons like disabilities or not being able to afford it, but what about the others? These people claimed to just not be interested at all, "not in the Web, e-mail, YouTube, Facebook or anything else that happens online."
If you chose not to use the internet because you do not see the reason, I feel that you are just trying to stay stubborn and only the other side of the media divide. As phone continue to become smart phones and internet continues to become more and more accessible, this divide will shrink smaller and smaller. You cannot go to school and not be able to use the internet and sooner or later, you probably won't be able to look at your bank account, pay for your meal, or withdrawal money without using the internet.
"Once someone has a wireless device, she becomes much more active in how she uses the internet -- not just with wireless connectivity, but also with wired devices," the report said. "The same holds true for the impact of wireless connections and people's interest in using the internet to connect with others.
This one in five adults has to be getting smaller. I understand people refusing to use Twitter and Facebook or using the internet to watch videos, but the internet will be more than that. Soon even senior citizens will have to know how use their computers.
Source - Why one in five U.S. adults doesn't use the Internet, CNNTech
BJB - slight editing for style
Also, it's not so much a stubborn refusal, than it is a perception that there isn't anything on the Web that's worth the time and effort of going online. Now this perception may be considered and accurate, or it may be that some people aren't yet aware of things on the Net that they would find useful and valuable. To increase diffusion, sometimes you have to make sure there's content and services for people that they want to (or need to) use, as well as having the ability to go online.
