What ICT User Are You? The Pew Research Developed a Quiz.

Reading The Pew Research reports is a great pleasure. To me, what The Pew Research does---is an uttermost manifestation of the best quality research. Argue with me on that. I really wish I could hear someone criticizing The Pew Research for anything. So far, no prunes for this fact-tank.

The weekly Pew Research newsletter keeps me updated on the issues like American politics, state of American mass media, polls, Internet, technology, etc. I would say, this newsletter is of a great help to the American studies scholars who want to stay updated and avoid filtering poor-quality journalism all over the place on the web.

On March 25, 2009, The Pew Internet & American Life Project published "Internet Typology: The Mobile Difference/ Wireless Connectivity Has Drawn Many Users More Deeply into Digital Life". I accessed the report from the Pew Research publication website.

This is a constant debate: do information and communication technologies make us more sociable or, on the contrary, enable us to be more distanced? This was not the thesis of the report I am talking about. But I liked how the researchers differentiated among the different groups of the ICT users. This attempt is applausable. To me, the arguments and results of their surveys look convincing enough.

If you are interested and have some spare minutes---take the quiz compiled by The Pew Research team to find out what type of the ICT user you are. Surprisingly (well, why should I care?), my self-"definition" did not correspond with the results of The Pew Research. I thought I was more like an Ambivalent Networker-type; yet the results suggest quite the contrary. I am a Digital Collaborator (!!!)
Compare the two:

Digital Collaborators: 8% of adults use information gadgets to collaborate with others and share their creativity with the world.

For many Digital Collaborators, digital information is input into a creative process that often involves others and whose output they share with the world using the web. Members of this group can almost always get access to the internet, whether that is with an "always on" broadband connection or with an "always present" mobile device. With such robust connectivity, Digital Collaborators share their thoughts or creative content with others. Using blogs and other content-creation applications, they collaborate with others online to express themselves creatively. For Digital Collaborators, the internet can be a camp, a lab or a theater group -- places to gather with others to develop something new.

This pattern of active and continuous information exchange puts ICTs at the center of how Digital Collaborators learn, work, socialize and have fun. Most play games on electronic devices, with half playing games on the internet. At least occasionally, most of them watch TV on a device other than a traditional television set. And one-quarter have avatars that let them participate in virtual worlds. The typical Digital Collaborator is in his late 30s and has had years of online experience to hone his skills to get the most out of ICTs.

Ambivalent Networkers: 7% of adults heavily use mobile devices to connect with others and entertain themselves, but they don't always like it when the cell phone rings.

Digital information flows through handheld devices and social networking sites for Ambivalent Networkers as they have seamlessly integrated these cutting-edge resources into how they connect with others. With a handheld device at the ready, Ambivalent Networkers stay in touch with their family and friends and gather intelligence about what is going on in the world. They are the most frequent cell phone texters of any group. While some message content might be about current affairs, a portion is undoubtedly about culture, as Ambivalent Networkers will watch videos or listen to music using online access tools, mobile or otherwise.

While they welcome the connections to people and knowledge that easy access opens, Ambivalent Networkers don't always like a knock on their door. Like Digital Collaborators, frequent information exchange is a key part of Ambivalent Networkers' profiles. Unlike Digital Collaborators, they sometimes struggle with traffic volume. They are less likely than average to enjoy the extra availability enabled by mobile devices and less certain than Digital Collaborators about whether ICTs offer them more control over their lives. Most Ambivalent Networkers say they think it is a good idea to take a break from using the internet. Nonetheless, they are confident in their ability to manage gadgets and would be hard pressed to do without mobile access.

The other types of the ICT users coined by The Pew researchers are:

Media Movers: 7% of adults use online access to seek out information nuggets, and these nuggets make their way through these users' social networks via desktop and mobile access.

Roving Nodes: 9% of adults use their mobile devices to connect with others and share information with them.

Mobile Newbies: 8% of adults lack robust access to the internet, but they like their cell phones. A typical Mobile Newbie, who is about 50 years old, is a novice with modern ICTs, but is wading into the waters thanks to a new cell phone.

Desktop Veterans: 13% of adults are dedicated to wireline access to digital information, and like how it opens up the pipeline to information for them.

Drifting Surfers: 14% of adults are light users -- despite having a lot of ICTs -- and say they could do without modern gadgets and services.

Information Encumbered: 10% of adults feel overwhelmed by information and inadequate to troubleshoot modern ICTs.

The Tech Indifferent: 10% of adults are unenthusiastic about the internet and cell phone.

Off the Network: 14% of adults are neither cell phone users nor internet users.

Check out the report for more detailed definitions.

This attempt to differentiate among the ICT users provides an insight on why the information and communication technology can be both: a tool for getting connected and distanced from the society/social environment (to certain extent 'cause both can be an illusion). Yet these technologies ALSO enable us to switch identities. That's what I find particularly comfortable.

That's what the Pew research did not address so far.