Transcript The rise of the e-citizen Lee Rainie – Director E-Gov Web-Enabled Government Conference 2.12.03

The rise of the e-citizen
Lee Rainie – Director
E-Gov Web-Enabled Government Conference
2.12.03
“Oh, like you know something
the Internet doesn’t know.”
The double-edged
Internet
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Good wire
Overcomes differences
Creates opportunities
Encourages tolerance
Revives community
Fosters creativity
Enriches cultural
production
Enhances participation
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Bad wire
Erodes tradition
Creates balkanization
Reduces privacy
Destroys indigenous
cultures
Cuts back community
involvement
Encourages crime and
anti-social behavior
The big picture
• 116 million American adults are online –
61% of all adults
• >35 million children, including 78% of
teenagers
• 64 million-70 million online on any
given day
• There is great churn in the Internet
population
Popular activities on
a typical day online
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Email – 51%
Search engine – 29%
News – 26%
Surfing for fun – 22%
Hobby info. – 20%
Factoid search – 19%
Work research – 19%
Check weather – 18%
Product info. – 14%
Info. about leisure
activities – 13%
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Sports – 12%
Inst. messaging – 12%
Political info. – 12%
Govt. Web sites – 9%
Banking – 10%
Play game – 7%
Medical info. – 7%
Buy a product – 4%
Job info. – 4%
Create content – 4%
Download music – 4%
Our findings - 1
People use email to enhance connection
and increase communication
Our findings – 2
Different people use the Internet differently
• Gender
• Race/ethnicity
• Socioeconomic
status
• Age
• Parental status
• Internet-experience
level
• Personal outlook
• Social environment
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Job
Sho
p
ie s
s
Hob
b
anc
New
peo
ple
ion
s
es
Ele
ct
Fin
t
Fam
ily
40
Hea
lth
Gov
er n
m en
10
nds
30
Frie
Our findings – 3
The Internet helps in
everyday life
70
60
50
Our findings - 4
People use the Internet more seriously as
they gain experience
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Their work-use grows
The variety of their activities expands
They perform more transactions
Their email content becomes more
consequential
Au
ct
i
Ba on
nk
i
Ho ng
Tr
av usin
el
g
g
Sp
o
iri ods
tu
a
Bu l inf
o
y
go
Go o d
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vt
.s
it
Ne es
w
jo
Ga b
m
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Sp
or
ts
He
al
th
Em
ail
Tr
av IM
el
in
fo
Pr Hob
od
by
uc
ti
nf
o
or Sto
ck
k
re
se s
ar
Br
ow ch
se
/fu
n
Ne
ws
90
80
70
60
The growth in people’s
online activities over
a year’s time
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40
30
20
10
0
Our findings – 5
The quality of Internet access matters
“Look, Mom! A broadband digital subscriber
line followed me home. Can we keep it?”
Our findings - 6
E-patients are creating a new
health care environment
clueless, isolated, doctordependent patient
the net-savvy, well-connected
doctor-independent, end-user
Our findings – 7
E-citizens are creating a new
civic environment
How much does the Internet improve your interactions
with government?
A lot/some A little/not at all
Federal government
49%
48%
State government
45%
53%
Local government
30%
66%
The big picture on ecitizenship
• 68 million users of government Web
sites
• Demographics - male, middle-aged,
relatively well educated, financially
upscale
• Other demographics – government
workers, government trusters
What people do at govt. Web sites
Get tourism and recreation information
Do research for school or work
Download government forms
Find out what services a government agency provides
Seek information about a health or safety issue
Get information about potential business opportunities relevant
to you or your place of employment
Send coments about an issue to a government official
Get information or apply for a government job
Get information about elections, such as where to vote
Get information that helped you decide how to vote in an election
Get information about a lottery
Get information about or apply for government benefits
File your taxes
Renew a driver's license or auto registration
Renew a professional license
Get a fishing, hunting, or other recreational license
Pay a fine
77%
70%
63%
63%
62%
34%
34%
24%
22%
21%
21%
20%
16%
12%
7%
4%
2%
The rise of e-citizens
• 42 million researched a policy
• 23 million sent comments
• 14 million gathered info. to help
them cast votes
• 13 million participated in organized
lobbying campaigns
How people rate the sites
Federal sites
State sites
Local sites
Percent who have The percent who The percent who
visited this type of rate sites excellent rate the sites fair
site
or good
or poor
80%
76%
24%
76%
76%
24%
41%
62%
38%
The Internet and
municipal life - 1
• 88% of local officials use email and the
Internet in their official lives
• 61% use email to communicate with
citizens at least weekly
• 81% say use of email gives them a
better understanding of public opinion,
but only 26% say email has opened
their eyes to new pockets of opinion
The Internet and
municipal life - 2
• Two thirds of local officials think email
use is a modestly effective p.r. tool
• 35% say they have been on the
receiving end of email lobbying
campaigns
• But they say phone calls matter more
E-politics: 2000-2002
and beyond
• Fourfold increase in Internet use for
political information – impact grows
• Traditional news sources take over
• Youth audience grows, but no new
voters
• Partisan searchers confirm their biases
• Political organizations are big winners
Sept. 11 and
e-government
• What users did
• The commons of the tragedy
• How government webmasters
responded and learned
The revolution of rising
expectations
• 65% of all Americans and 82% of
Internet users expect government info.
and services on Web sites
• 71% of those who use them say they
get what they want at least most of the
time
Your next search for
government information?
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60
Go online
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40
30
Phone call
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10
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Visit
Letter
Special concern:
Digital Divide
Half of non-users want to stay that way
Special concern:
Privacy
The contradiction is that Americans say
they are very concerned about privacy,
but do many trusting things online
About us
[email protected]
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1100 Connecticut Ave. NW – Suite 710
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-296-0019
http://www.pewinternet.org/