Everyone Uses the Internet. Right?
I think we’ve all said at one time or another, “Everyone uses the internet.” You would be partially right — like so many broad, unsubstantiated statements.
The pandemic has definitely driven up overall usage. Pew Research Center reports that 31% of U.S. adults go online “almost constantly.”
Surprisingly, Pew (study conducted in January-February 2021) found that 7% of U.S. adults do not use the internet at all. That’s more than 23 million people, according to Mark math.
High internet usage is driven by age, high household income, where you live (urban vs. rural) and education. According to the study, one quarter of people 65+ don’t use the internet. What the survey should have done is break down the difference between people 65 and 80. At 65, if you don’t use the internet, you will have difficulty with Medicare and Social Security.
To me, this is simple survey ageism. The other age categories bridge 11 to 19 years in duration. The 65+ cohort spans 35+ years — that is only a nine-year difference from all the other age categories combined.
The Pew survey does show that the internet of things is becoming more and more a part of our lives. More than 8 in 10 U.S. adults go online at least daily (with 8% going online less than daily).
As the pandemic cools, the results may continue to show more internet usage. This trend has been growing steadily. The pandemic accelerated the trend, as if pushing the internet-of-things pedal to the floor.
Mark Mathis III is chief creative & strategy officer, partner and cofounder of AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
