Some statistics and why they freaked me out
So, for my cs215 class I had to write a report on a "web based topic". I kinda copped out and just wrote about some statistics I found on the Stats Canada website. I figure I'll post some of the statistics here and then talk about what really bothered me about them. Here goes:
Online Activities for ages 16-34 in Canada, 2007
Activity Percentage of Users that Engage in Activity
Instant Messaging 95%
Surfing or Browsing 86%
Weather Reports 72%
Viewing News or Sports 70%
Saving Music 68%
Travel Planning and Research 65%
Medical Information 57%
Games 51%
Online Newspapers & Magazines 51%
Research Community Events 44%
Blogging, Discussion Groups 33%
TV or Movies 33%
Job Search 31%
Read about Social Issues 29%
Correspond about Social Issues 13%
Changing Our Ways: Why and How Canadians Use the Internet
The second set of statistics makes me somewhat less optimistic about the benefits of the internet. Even though my last post discussed how increased information could lead to increased equality, these statistics do not seem to reflect that goal. For instance, 6% more men use the internet than women. This to me is both interesting and really weird. Here is an article a friend sent me about why women don't go into computer science. It turns out that less women now are going into CS than ever before. Enrolment has declined from approximately 50% when the field of computer science first emerged, to 28%, to 22%, to just 12% in the present day. The article hypothesizes that the 'nerdy' image of CS majors deters women from entering the field. I have seen other data to this effect, some of which specifically mentioned that the association between Star Trek and CS makes women unwilling to enter the field. What is up with that?? Personally, I LOVE Star Trek.
Another REALLY discouraging trend in the data is that people with a university education use the internet 66% more than those without a high school degree. That really doesn't seem to suggest that those without the means for post-secondary education are educating themselves using the new technology that is available. I find this so disappointing. Perhaps this gap can be explained since universities may require students to make use of the internet (for example, this assignment), but the magnitude of the gap seems too large for such an explanation.
Another possible reason could be that the elderly are less likely to have a high school diploma because it was less relevant several decades ago. Older age groups also seem to make less use of the internet. However, the second Stats Can article mentions that the elderly are now using the internet for gaming and communication even more than middle aged people. I can support this with some anecdotal evidence about how my Granny has now figured out email and daily sends me pictures of cute kittens. Although I find cute kitten pictures SUPREMELY annoying, I am happy that my Granny is able to use email, facebook, and online games to entertain herself and keep busy after the death of my Poppa. I would call that an internet win.
I guess this entry has turned out much longer and more rambling than I had originally planned for. A quick summary? The internet rules, its just sad that more people don't take advantage of it.
Online Activities for ages 16-34 in Canada, 2007
Activity Percentage of Users that Engage in Activity
Instant Messaging 95%
Surfing or Browsing 86%
Weather Reports 72%
Viewing News or Sports 70%
Saving Music 68%
Travel Planning and Research 65%
Medical Information 57%
Games 51%
Online Newspapers & Magazines 51%
Research Community Events 44%
Blogging, Discussion Groups 33%
TV or Movies 33%
Job Search 31%
Read about Social Issues 29%
Correspond about Social Issues 13%
Changing Our Ways: Why and How Canadians Use the Internet
- Over half of Canadians 15 years and older use the internet.
- 50% of women use the internet.
- 56% of men use the internet.
- Canadians aged 15-19 use the internet more than any other age group.
- 90% of Canadians aged 15-19 use the internet.
- 70% of Canadians aged 25-29 use the internet.
- 61% of Canadians aged 35-39 use the internet.
- 13% of Canadians aged 65-69 use the internet.
- The highest internet use in Canada is in Alberta and British Columbia.
- 79% of Canadians with a university education use the internet.
- 13% of Canadians with less than a high school diploma use the internet.
The second set of statistics makes me somewhat less optimistic about the benefits of the internet. Even though my last post discussed how increased information could lead to increased equality, these statistics do not seem to reflect that goal. For instance, 6% more men use the internet than women. This to me is both interesting and really weird. Here is an article a friend sent me about why women don't go into computer science. It turns out that less women now are going into CS than ever before. Enrolment has declined from approximately 50% when the field of computer science first emerged, to 28%, to 22%, to just 12% in the present day. The article hypothesizes that the 'nerdy' image of CS majors deters women from entering the field. I have seen other data to this effect, some of which specifically mentioned that the association between Star Trek and CS makes women unwilling to enter the field. What is up with that?? Personally, I LOVE Star Trek.
Another REALLY discouraging trend in the data is that people with a university education use the internet 66% more than those without a high school degree. That really doesn't seem to suggest that those without the means for post-secondary education are educating themselves using the new technology that is available. I find this so disappointing. Perhaps this gap can be explained since universities may require students to make use of the internet (for example, this assignment), but the magnitude of the gap seems too large for such an explanation.
Another possible reason could be that the elderly are less likely to have a high school diploma because it was less relevant several decades ago. Older age groups also seem to make less use of the internet. However, the second Stats Can article mentions that the elderly are now using the internet for gaming and communication even more than middle aged people. I can support this with some anecdotal evidence about how my Granny has now figured out email and daily sends me pictures of cute kittens. Although I find cute kitten pictures SUPREMELY annoying, I am happy that my Granny is able to use email, facebook, and online games to entertain herself and keep busy after the death of my Poppa. I would call that an internet win.
I guess this entry has turned out much longer and more rambling than I had originally planned for. A quick summary? The internet rules, its just sad that more people don't take advantage of it.