Some Facts

From "A Portrait of Generation Next: How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics" 

Pew Research Center:  http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=300

• They use technology and the internet to connect with people in new and distinctive ways.
  • Text messaging, instant messaging and email keep them in constant contact with friends.
  • About half say they sent or received a text message over the phone in the past day, approximately double the proportion of those ages 26-40.
• They are the "Look at Me" generation.
  • Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and MyYearbook allow individuals to post a personal profile complete with photos and descriptions of interests and hobbies.
  • A majority of Gen Nexters have used one of these social networking sites, and more than four-in-ten have created a personal profile.

From "How Americans Use IM"

Pew Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/133/report_display.asp

• More than four in ten online Americans instant message (IM).
• That reflects about 53 million American adults who use instant messaging programs.
• About 11 million of them IM at work and they are becoming fond of its capacity to encourage productivity and interoffice cooperation.

From "Online Videos Go Mainstream"

Pew Research Center:  http://pewresearch.org/pubs/552/online-videos-go-mainstream

• Majority of adult internet users in the U.S. (57%) report watching or downloading some type of online video content and 19% do so on a typical day.
• Three-in-four young adult internet users (76%) report online consumption of video, compared with 57% of online adults ages 30-49.
• Less than half (46%) of internet users ages 50-64 watch or download video and just 39% of those age 65 and older do so.
• How they are using video: 

• Fully 57% of online video viewers share links to the videos they find online with others. (Do we support this type of "viral" sharing of information and library resources?)
• At the moment, few online video viewers are paying for any of the video they watch; just 7% say they have paid to access or download video online.

From "Wikipedia Users"

Pew Research Center:  http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Wikipedia07.pdf

• 36% of online American adults consult Wikipedia

From "Tagging"

PEW Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/201/report_display.asp

From Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social - and Educational - Networking

National School Boards Association

• Social Networking = technical functions that allow users to easily create, share and respond to information.
• 60% of students report using social networking to discuss education-related topics.
• The majority of districts use some kind of social networking software to communicate with students, parents or the community.

From Library 2.0: A Guide To Participatory Library Service

"Here's the truth:

• We are losing the interest of our users.
• We no longer consistently offer the services our users want.
• We are resistant to changing services that we consider traditional or fundamental to library service.
• We are no longer the first place many of our current and potential customers look for information."