Grade this Blog! #2: Pew Reports

Today's assignment: review several Pew Reports and write a very short summary of two reports. To be safe, I stuck to the links on the homepage listed under the "Reports" heading.

"Generations and Their Gadgets" by Kathryn Zickuhr

This report notes trends between different generations and the usage of various gadgets including cell phones, MP3 players, tablet pc's, laptops, desktops and e-readers. Although each gadget type had more specific trends, the overarching theme was these gadgets were most popular with members of Generation Y (born 1977-1993), with the exception of the desktop computer.

I found this report to be very interesting and relevant. As a member of Generation Y, I can relate to the gadgets indentified. For the most part I own and use each of the identified gadgets. If I do not own it, I am at the very least familiar with the device and how to use it (i.e. tablet pc and e-readers). I also found the statistic showing that Generation Y has essentially abandoned the desktop computer to be particularly interesting. I believe this fact highlights the every-increasing mobility that my Generation seeks in its electronic devices.

"The Social Side of the Internet" by Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell and Aaron Smith

This report explores an interesting correlation between internet users and likelihood of involvement with a voluntary group or organization, as compared to no internet users (80% participation and 56% participation, respectively). This report also showed the internet users that frequently use social networking sites are even more likely to be involved in voluntary groups or organizations.

I also found this report to be logical and relevant. During my undergraduate and graduate careers, I have been involved in several organizations and volunteer groups. For these groups, information was almost always disseminated through the internet. Email, group list servers, Facebook and Twitter are some of the more popular methods for getting information to members of a volunteer organization. To access this information, one would need to be an internet user. The logic here seems relatively simple.