The internet's conscientious objectors

Source - BBC News 7/8/09

 

The world of internet "have-nots" is not just populated by people who can't go online. Chris Bowlby finds there are many who simply won't.

 

If you're reading this, you're part of the internet using majority. But it's not nearly as much of an overwhelming majority as many assume.

 

It's estimated that as many as 17 million people in Britain aged over 15 are not using the internet.

 

Ellen Helsper says non-users are becoming ever more militant

 

As a report, released on Thursday, says spending on information technology is more important to Britons than anything except food, there are many who are staying firmly beyond the grasps of the net. And, in a worrying trend for those planning a "digital revolution" in public services, the rate at which people are becoming new users is slowing.

 

Non-users are "becoming less and less likely to want to be engaging with technology such as the internet," says Ellen Helsper, who has been a leading researcher with the Oxford Internet Institute. There is a rise in the number of people saying they are just not interested in being online, "it's not that relevant to my life, I don't see how I would fit it in".

 

So the internet refuseniks seem to be, in many cases, very determined. But given the sheer wealth of information that can be accessed through a few mouse clicks and keystrokes, why would anyone consciously choose to avoid the online world?

 

At University of Dundee I meet researchers whose job it is to understand why so many people are shunning the net.

 

Their subjects are mostly over 50s and several say net use would leave them less or no time for activities they value highly.

 

"I know a lot of friends, they're hooked on the damn thing" says one woman. She knew a "marvellous artist" who had abandoned her art in order to spend time computing.

 

Impersonal

 

"It's destroyed a lot of family life" complains another, as hobbies are no longer enjoyed communally.

 

Others lament the loss of personal communication.

 

"We tried computing and we're back to writing letters" says one of those being questioned by researcher, as e-mail is seen as too impersonal for close human contact.

 

"My wife won't send e-mail" one man says. "She likes the personal touch [so] doesn't know what's happening to that letter of yours [if it is sent electronically]."

 

Privacy is another worry, as computers have made information gathering so powerful.

 

"The whole world's on computers", says one woman. "You just have to say your postcode and they know everything about you. I'm just not interested."

 

"If you hit the wrong key," says her neighbour, "what about privacy?"

 

And hitting the wrong key took us into complaints about design and computer complexity.

 

"I'm bad with fingers, that's why I make mistakes" one woman tells me. "Computers are like a Rubik's cube," a former teacher says. "Once you start to make a mess, and you don't know what you're doing, all you do is make a bigger mess."

 

Curtains down

 

Alan Newell, professor at the Dundee university school of computing, points out the typical computer tends "to be designed by young male computer scientists and they tend not to understand the challenges it provides for groups of people they never meet".

 

While the sheer amount of information online is what draws many to immerse themselves in the net, the same fact also deters some.

 

"You get so much junk you have to clear out" one confirmed non-user complains. "I just don't feel I'm going to get any pleasure out of it", says another in the group.

 

But what's the harm in opting out of everything online?

 

There is growing anxiety that those who choose to remain offline will pay a price. One woman living in sheltered housing had noticed all the discounts being given to those paying electronically. She speaks of a "curtain coming down" between those who were and were not online.

 

It's a problem all over the country. At a community centre run by the Lighthouse project at Rowley Regis in the Midlands, Tina and Brian Whitehouse are working hard at their computer skills after both losing jobs in the recession.

 

"A lot of the jobs now, you can only apply online" says Tina, "so if you don't know the basics of a computer, how can you apply online?"

 

This centre's work shows how the millions not online are far from confined to older people.

 

"You'd be amazed at the amount of people of all ages who come here with no computer experience" says John Payne, who works at the centre.

 

Forcing a switch

 

He is in late 20s and only recently took up computing and using the internet as his parents could not afford to be online at home. Even those who can afford computers, he adds, often let them gather dust as they are fearful of damaging them and lack the training and support to become regular users.

 

With the current pressure on public spending government wants to move more and more services online, arguing that services can both be improved and cost less to deliver.

 

But if many millions remain offline, savings will be harder to make, and political controversy will grow if government tries to force people to switch by offering more and more limited alternatives - especially in areas such as health care.

 

Martha Lane Fox, dotcom pioneer and now appointed as the government's digital inclusion champion, is convinced of the internet's benefits for all.

 

"I don't think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online," she says.

 

But she worries too, she told me, about the refuseniks' attitudes becoming "too prevalent".

 

So those who find life without the internet unimaginable, and those who still aren't convinced, must find better ways of understanding each other - provided, that is, they can ever agree on how to communicate.

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It's really quite surprising that almost a third of the country is seemingly refusing to Go Online.... Does this mean that the significance of "Internet Revolution" is seriously being overplayed...?

 

I have to say, I can see the naysayers points in some ways, it does seem to kind of breed anti-social tendencies, and people can become "addicted" to things like online gaming and gambling. There are some friends of mine that I rarely see, and am having to (against my better judgement) open up a Facebook account purely so I can actually chat with them, and it's not necessarily about distance, I'm talking about people living in the same city, but they just dont seem to want to socialise much these days...

 

So, has the Internet ruined the art of social contact or not...? Personally, I think it's about striking a balance between Net Life and Real Life.....

definately about balance, the internet IS the best invention of recent years but like anything, if you abuse it, it loses its appeal. imho the internet and social networks are an aid to living, not lifes 'reason d'etre '. it is a huge aid, to learning, lifestyle, culture, socialising... but shouldnt be used inspite of real life.

imho the internet and social networks are an aid to living, not lifes 'reason d'etre '. it is a huge aid, to learning, lifestyle, culture, socialising... but shouldnt be used inspite of real life.

 

I agree... I was resistant to Facebook because I remember becoming a tad addicted to Live Journal as a student, so avoided Myspace... But seeing as how so many of my friends are regularly Facebooking, and, like I say, there are some I hardly even see these days, then I'm reluctantly going to set up a Facebook profile soon.... I just hope that know kinda knowing how addictive this stuff can be, it'll be a case of it being better balanced....

 

It's really quite surprising that almost a third of the country is seemingly refusing to Go Online.... Does this mean that the significance of "Internet Revolution" is seriously being overplayed...?

 

I have to say, I can see the naysayers points in some ways, it does seem to kind of breed anti-social tendencies, and people can become "addicted" to things like online gaming and gambling. There are some friends of mine that I rarely see, and am having to (against my better judgement) open up a Facebook account purely so I can actually chat with them, and it's not necessarily about distance, I'm talking about people living in the same city, but they just dont seem to want to socialise much these days...

 

So, has the Internet ruined the art of social contact or not...? Personally, I think it's about striking a balance between Net Life and Real Life.....

 

yeah tbh it has sort of ruined social contact a bit, we are almost forced onto facebook just to stay in touch with people now a days, but things such as facebook, msn, e-mail prove successful communication tools, and it also makes it far more easier to contact someone who isnt normally in your reach, or old friends, or friends/family who live in other countries, i speak to my cousin who lives in Austrailia on msn all the time, on phone, this would cost a f***ing lot, and it's so much easier to log into msn to speak to someone than to phone them, especially if they are on the other side of the world.

 

the internet has tuined social contact a bit, but there are far more advantages of the internet in general that it doesnt really matter, although you could say social contact has improved with things such as facebook, as it keeps you in contact with people.

I've been up in Yorkshire at my mum's since Monday with no Net access and didn't miss it at all.

Obviously you've got to maintain balance...these people just sound like latter-day Luddites to me however. Just using it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to end up addicted to it, as with the vast majority of people who use technology! :rolleyes:

My Dad used to be a bit like that. Very resistant to using the internet, but he's gradually converted. He used to think that it was just for saddos who didn't have a social life and even when he conceded that it had useful things on there, things that would interest him, he still said he didn't have the time and was too busy. My mum was always a bit more pro-active about it.

 

Now they are realising that email is useful for getting things organised, and if you are a member of a club or society, you can find out what's going on. You can check train times much more easily online than you can on the phone, let alone in person, and booking flights, looking up maps and buying wedding presents from online wedding lists all saves time for people with busy social lives.

 

Do you remember a while ago Elton John did a big rant about how awful the internet was, and that people would be much better off without it. Says the man who has a string of staff who presumably all use the internet and email to keep him organised. I'd love to see Elton standing in the queue at the post office to renew his car tax. ;)

 

Even if we don't use the internet directly, we get the benefits of others using it. All kinds of research, including medical research, can progress so much faster thanks to online publication of research findings. It was the academics who invented the internet for that very use in the first place and anyone who needs to find or disseminate information quickly can do so much more easily. If we want to know what our local MP has been up to, it is easy to search for them, and if we don't know who our MP is, we can check that too. All new Acts of Parliament go online, along with the minutes of committee meetings at all levels of government. It wasn't that long ago that you had to rely on a journalist being there and reporting it in a newspaper that you read, or having to know that a particular piece of guidance existed, and knew how to contact the relevant body and then get them to post you a copy of it, possibly for a fee.

 

For a lot of those people, they simply don't know what the internet can do for them, and wouldn't know where to start. It's good that they are running courses and things, so that even if people don't have their own home internet connection, they can go to the local library to take advantage of some of what is on offer.

My mom's getting a facebook. :( I never thought I'd see the day.

 

But yes, Facebook / the internet in general is a fabulous way for people to keep in touch. As I'll be going off to college/university this fall, it'll be nice to have it to keep in contact with old friends from high school / see what they're doing. Also, it's been nice to get in contact with my roomies to decide who brings what and such. In that sense, it actually can improve social lives as well. There are people who I only talked to a bit in real life yet started to talk to more on Facebook, and now we're closer friends and hang out.

 

Just gotta keep a balance. I do love Facebook tbh though. <3

I agree... I was resistant to Facebook because I remember becoming a tad addicted to Live Journal as a student, so avoided Myspace... But seeing as how so many of my friends are regularly Facebooking, and, like I say, there are some I hardly even see these days, then I'm reluctantly going to set up a Facebook profile soon.... I just hope that know kinda knowing how addictive this stuff can be, it'll be a case of it being better balanced....

 

and so you have! my, i didnt expect you to have hair that long!

ps ...... clare has a freind with the exact same name as me .... it aint me, i dont have facebook. .... just in case you invited them thinking it was moi.... john on though... just got back from traveling around the world.

and so you have! my, i didnt expect you to have hair that long!

 

Jealous...? :P

 

Cheers for that heads up about Clare's mate though.... I think I actually sent you out an invite via e-mail anyway.... I take it you're resistant to Facebook for one or two of the same reasons I was.....

yeah i am... and clares not keen on me getting it as itll take up too much time. we view it together as all my family are on hers so tbh theres no real need atm.

yeah i am... and clares not keen on me getting it as itll take up too much time. we view it together as all my family are on hers so tbh theres no real need atm.

 

Ah, but it's okay for her to take up time with it though....? :lol: :lol:

 

She's prob a bit scared that you might end up chatting to some of my attractive Goth lady friends..... :P :lol: :lol:

 

I'm gonna try and be good and not get obsessed with it... I can do it on my mobile, so it'll prob be summat I do on the bus to/from work more than anything.....

Ah, but it's okay for her to take up time with it though....? :lol: :lol:

 

She's prob a bit scared that you might end up chatting to some of my attractive Goth lady friends..... :P :lol: :lol:

 

I'm gonna try and be good and not get obsessed with it... I can do it on my mobile, so it'll prob be summat I do on the bus to/from work more than anything.....

 

 

I'm on Facebook if you wanna invite me to be your friend Scott! :P

 

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females.

I'm on Facebook if you wanna invite me to be your friend Scott! :P

 

I'd sooner invite Margaret Thatcher.... :P There is no way in hell I'm going to expose my delicate, sensitive female Goth friends to you mate..... :P :lol:

 

I'd sooner invite Margaret Thatcher.... :P There is no way in hell I'm going to expose my delicate, sensitive female Goth friends to you mate..... :P :lol:

 

 

Please yourself. I have 1000 friends already anyway so quite enough for now. :cheer:

Please yourself. I have 1000 friends already anyway so quite enough for now. :cheer:

 

Chris, having 990 bands on your Friends List doesn't actually count..... :P

 

Please yourself. I have 1000 friends already anyway so quite enough for now. :cheer:

 

Are you the sort that just adds anyone who's a friend of a friend of a friend, or someone who randomly shares the same surname as you, etc? One of the OMG I need to win the friend race type guy?

I've finally figured it out. Crazy Chris is a tabloid journalist playing a persona. It explains EVERYTHING.