This is pretty interesting – according to a study by the Internet Innovation Alliance, only 42% of African-American and Hispanic consumers use the Internet regularly.
What might change that? The article reads:
“It is very telling that of those respondents who do not have Internet access, 43 percent cited either not knowing how to use the Internet or not seeing the need for the Internet as the reason why they are not online,” said Internet Innovation Alliance co-chairman David Sutphen, in a statement.
“But interestingly, 44 percent of these same respondents said they would be more likely to subscribe to Internet services if they were provided free lessons on how to use the technology and 30 percent would be more likely to adopt if they had more information about how they could benefit from going online. It’s clear that digital literacy programs indeed are a crucial part of the formula for closing the digital divide.”
What a huge opportunity for someone – or several companies – to educate and cultivate a whole new customer base.
Verizon, AT&T et al… are you listening?
Read the entire article here.
But what are these stats telling us?
I read “It is very telling that of those respondents who do not have Internet access, 43 percent cited either not knowing how to use the Internet or not seeing the need for the Internet as the reason why they are not online,”
What are the actual percentages of the African American and Hispanic populations that don’t have internet access?
The concept of not knowing how to use the Internet is quite different from not seeing a need.
Then: “But interestingly, 44 percent of these same respondents said they would be more likely to subscribe to Internet services if they were provided free lessons on how to use the technology and 30 percent would be more likely to adopt if they had more information about how they could benefit from going online. It’s clear that digital literacy programs indeed are a crucial part of the formula for closing the digital divide.”
The first part likely also entails the lack of having access – which is part of the problem in the first place. The second part – not seeing how one could benefit is likely cultural and in some cases age based. I’ve come across many regardless of race or ethnicity who show no interest in the online arena. It may be higher in minority groups, but it is very difficult to counter this lack of interest regardless of the demographics.
There are several problems here that go beyond lack of education/understanding of the benefits (which often involves initiative), lack of access (which often involves income), and desire (which often can’t be overcome).
Each issue needs to be addressed.