Tag Archives: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Latest Trends in Mobile Computing

According to a recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 84% of American adults have a cell phone and laptop and desktop use are about the same.

Aaron Smith, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, recently released the key trends on Americans and mobile computing based on a nationwide telephone survey.  You can find the entire presentation online but some highlights for historic sites and historic house museums are:

  1. The use of mobile devices (cell phones, laptop computers, and tablets) is growing and desktop computer use is falling.  About 2/3rds of Americans connect to the internet wirelessly using a laptop or handheld device.  One quarter of US households only use cell phones.  [Soon everyone will be carrying an internet-connected computer with them–what will that mean for your organization?  How will that change your communications strategy, your programs and activities?]
  2. Smartphones (cell phones with internet access) are most popular with people ages 18-29, college graduates, households with an annual income $75,000 or more, and African Americans and Latinos.  [If you are trying to reach one of these audiences, Continue reading →

What’s Next in the Social Media Revolution?

"What's Next for Social Media" Forum at the National Archives.

The National Archives brought together a diverse panel of practitioners and critics of social media to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities for communication with the public in, “What’s Next in the Social Media Revolution?” at its Seventh Annual William G. McGowan Forum on Communications on Friday, November 4.  A really informative (and free!) evening and for historic sites there were these particularly useful insights and recommendations:

  • Social media is not just for socializing, but can inform and motivate. Alex Howard, the Government 2.0 Correspondent for O’Reilly Media, provided a quick history of social media noting that many of them are very new (Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg launched in 2004; YouTube and Twitter in 2006) but the turning point was the Iran elections in 2009, which showed that the use of social media could have tremendous impacts on society.  My advice:  your organization may not have the capacity to use social media actively right now, but Continue reading →