What is Digg?272 Comments
- bonk2k, on 05/18/2008, -9/+133Please, someone get these children an e-mail address! These unfortunate souls need incredible offers for boner pills!
- chakan2, on 05/18/2008, -3/+108I want to know what % has never sent snail mail. I'm betting that's getting higher now.
- Homerr, on 05/18/2008, -8/+110n00bs!
- mathchemist, on 05/18/2008, -4/+99Why do news articles always do this egregious number rounding? It says in the article that the actual figure is 18%. How are they justified in rounding that to 20% when they clearly have a more accurate figure?
- Shaman760, on 05/18/2008, -10/+93They all live in West Virginia.
- Chairboy, on 05/18/2008, -4/+69I'm more impressed that 80% _has_. For everyone who started in elm and earlier and started out playing with arpanet and other 'curiosities' decades ago, it's amazing how far we've come.
Good job, US! - albinorhino101, on 05/18/2008, -5/+6880% of digg has never been laid
- talonstriker, on 05/18/2008, -1/+64They have no idea what they're missing. If they just got an email account, they'd be getting easy money from Nigerian Princes and the British Lottery.
- JJCDAD, on 05/18/2008, -3/+48I assume it's this same 20% that those digital tv commercials are aimed at?
- lisaawesome, on 05/18/2008, -40/+81Isn't the current Bush approval rating around 20% as well? I'm not suggesting that internet users are Bush haters but more than someone who has never once sent an e-mail is likely very disconnected from the world at large. I would dare to guess this 20% is made up of old stubborn people and utterly apathetic low income folks. Whether you want to or not these days, many businesses and schools require e-mail and internet activity so that seriously narrows down the potential demographics of this 20%. ***** my 70 year old dad who is an uneducated truck driver uses e-mail and myspace and the such!
- PolarBearCa, on 05/18/2008, -1/+41I'm puzzled why this is a surprise.
There are a small number of people who don't have telephones, or televisions, or cars. It may be for religious reasons, or because they live someplace that certain technologies aren't really viable, or they can't afford it.
Half are over 65. More than half don't have much education. That says to me that poor people and old people aren't terribly motivated to adopt technology they would not be able to use otherwise.
It's all how you look at it... we're still pretty early in the "information age". How many people had cars less than 15 years after the appearance of the automobile? How many had electricity so fast? How many people still used party lines for rural phone service into the 80s?
The fact that more than 80% of people HAVE sent email, and more than 70% of households have internet access is pretty impressive. The reverse (18% haven't) is only a surprise to those who assume everyone has and don't think outside their neighbourhood. - inactive, on 05/18/2008, -7/+44Digg users: Claiming to love the poor when Obama talks about them, yet mocking them everywhere else.
- tabledesk, on 05/18/2008, -4/+37What's his MySpace?
- painperdu, on 05/18/2008, -1/+31"A recent phone survey of U.S. households by Parks found 20 million households are without Internet access . . ."
That's odd becuase a recent email survey of US households found 20 million households are without phone access. - iChaz, on 05/18/2008, -3/+31All I can say is 'AARP!'.
- iChaz, on 05/18/2008, -0/+27Psh, yeah. I mean, c'mon guys, 2% of america is only a mere 10 million people...
- Acglaphotis, on 05/18/2008, -1/+27*woosh*
- musleypope, on 05/18/2008, -0/+23In my into to journalism class in college we were actually taught to round numbers for headlines. ***** if I know why. Maybe its just assuming that the general public is so stupid that they find it easier to comprehend round numbers?
- Beowulf2112, on 05/18/2008, -0/+23My 75 y/o grandmother does regularly
- yojiffyskippy, on 05/18/2008, -4/+26The 20% is most likely poor and elderly. Both demographics are predominantly non-voters and/or Democrats.
- CC440, on 05/18/2008, -1/+22This is possible if you think of the fact that comparitavely few people over the age of 65 own a computer. A minority of the group that has a computer in this age range has high speed internet, or even internet at all. I think it's possible.
- ralphie81, on 05/18/2008, -0/+20It didn't say people, it said households. I don't know many 0-4 year olds that have their own place.
- isaactwito, on 05/18/2008, -0/+20And soon you'll also learn how to conjugate in the past tense.
- frieddonuts, on 05/18/2008, -0/+17I think he was following the laws of Journalism and rounding the number up :)
- Startemus, on 05/18/2008, -4/+20Ever hear of Digg? Yeah... that's what a shovel's for.
- apophenic, on 05/18/2008, -1/+16Most likely, since that's the poorest state in the whole country, and it's right in the heart of Appalachia.
Not for the stupid political reasons you think, though! - theysayjump, on 05/18/2008, -5/+19Considering more than 37,000,000 people in this country live "in poverty", I'm surprised the number isn't higher.
- JerodSlay, on 05/18/2008, -1/+14I think it's a bit scewed because it was a phone survey. That covers a lot of houses, but almost none of the "millennials." These are young adults currently 18-24(ish) who don't have a land line. It is still a big number.
My new mission in life is to get my grandma to send me an e-mail and type something in open office. - Mattwdj, on 05/18/2008, -13/+26Coincidentally, 98% of West Virginians don't have internet, however, 65% are inbred.
- talonstriker, on 05/18/2008, -0/+12Pretty soundly, I would think. Remember these people likely haven't seen tubgirl and 2girls1cup.
- aywwts4, on 05/18/2008, -0/+11My grandmother gives me letters to type up and email to people, she then wants replies and websites printed for her.
She has a little organized binder labeled internet. - Jesse, on 05/18/2008, -1/+13Yeah, it's called "poverty".
- Kronos6948, on 05/18/2008, -0/+11Hey now, I'm getting one of those converter boxes! No cable for me! Although, the internets have helped me keep up with those non broadcasted shows....;)
- GDOG5, on 05/18/2008, -1/+12My god, how do these people sleep at night?
- sovereign3, on 05/18/2008, -1/+11Try closer to six million (total US population ~300 million).
- kmcippant, on 05/18/2008, -0/+9I'd believe that! My grandparents live in West Virginia and we were there for Christmas a couple years ago when I was in still in college. My grades came out when we were there and I had the hardest time connecting to the internet to see them. My dad couldn't get enough of a signal to use his blackberry and my grandparents' phone line used pulse dialing (like with a rotary phone) and the modem dialed too fast for it to work. So, I had to click "connect" on the computer, and my dad in the other room would dial the number for the internet slowly on the phone. It was so ghetto, but we finally got connected.
- Maver1c, on 05/18/2008, -0/+9It was a joke. But seriously, what's his myspace?
- Twan2649, on 05/18/2008, -8/+16Sucks for them.
- fishgeekva, on 05/18/2008, -9/+17yea no *****, how many old people get online?
- Phocion55, on 05/18/2008, -0/+8Easily, really - nothing on the Interwebs to keep them up.
- inactive, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7"I've had enough of Hussseeeinn!"
- izackcarson, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7My 96 year-old grandmother doesn't have any idea what e-mail is. Then you have Luddites. WHat about the incarcerated? I know some prisons have internet access, but I doubt most inmates are checking myspace daily. 20% doesn't sound that high to me.
E-mail and the internet in genreal are nice, but not necessary to life. - sugarazor, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7Okay, I wanna see a legit statistic for that last one.
- nextyoyoma, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7well, that's one...
- Florian, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7I'm surprised it's only 20%. What percent of the WORLD population hasn't sent an email? Probably something like 90%.
- jim3008, on 05/18/2008, -4/+11not really, ~20% of Americans are either 65+ or 0-4, i mean my grandfather had a hard time using the elevator and you're expecting him to spend an e-mail? and i'll be surprised if any toddlers are using a computer
- STPZ, on 05/18/2008, -1/+8Hey what about those without phones?....seems disenfranchising; elitist internetors
- MyDiggIsBig, on 05/18/2008, -0/+7i actually wish i was part of that 20%. not knowing about computers would probably be a more beautiful life.
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