Search Engine Use 2012  Search engines remain popular—and users are more satisfied than ever with the quality of search results—but many are anxious about the collection of personal information by search engines and other websites and say they do not like the idea of personalized search results or targeted advertising.
Though they generally do not support targeted search or ads, these users report very positive outcomes when it comes to the quality of information search provides, and more positive than negative experiences using search.
Read more ... It turns out that birds of a feather don’t always flock together on social networking sites when it comes to politics. There is evidence in a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that on social networking sites (SNS): - Friends disagree with friends about political issues and usually let their disagreements pass without comment. Among the SNS users whose friends post political content, 25% always agree or mostly agree with their friends’ political postings; 73% of these SNS users “only sometimes” agree or never agree with their friends’ political postings. When they disagree with others’ posts, 66% of these SNS users say they usually ignore the posts; 28% said they usually respond with comments or posts of their own; and 5% said it depends on the circumstances.
- Users can be surprised to learn the political leanings of their friends. Some 38% of SNS users have discovered through a friend’s posts that his/her political beliefs were different than the user thought they were.
As a rule, the most active and engaged political participants on SNS sit at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, yet their experiences around political material on SNS are quite similar. Very liberal users and very conservative users are often the most likely to have acted for and against others on SNS. They are also more likely than others to have been surprised by their friends’ political views and to be in networks where they agree with what their friends post. Still, even with them, there is as much frequency of disagreement as there is of agreement. How one man became the chief of a tribe he didn't know existed, thanks to the internet.
An inspiring story recounted to Associate Director for Digital Strategy Susannah Fox from Nell Minow, a movie critic and corporate governance watchdog. Do you self-track? Stephen Wolfram predicts that we will all self-track some day, but a Pew Internet survey suggests we have a long way to go. Just 1 in 4 internet users track health data online.
We would love to add more self-tracking questions to our next health survey, such as additional categories or follow-ups to the two questions we asked in 2010. We’ll be in the field in August-September 2012, so please email Susannah Fox with your suggestions. Pew Internet research in the news Hopkins researchers aim to uncover which mobile health applications work
Baltimore Sun, March 14 Unfriending Over Politics
The Daily Beast, March 12 Internet privacy a growing concern, Pew finds
SFGate, March 10 | Upcoming report: Be on the lookout for a new report on teens, texting, and smartphones. About us: The Pew Internet & American Life Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit "fact tank"that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Internet & American Life Project explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. Support for the project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts. |
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