A recent study by the Pew Research Center has revealed that there are still millions of people around the US who live lives completely disconnected from the advancing online world. Who are these people and what are the reasons behind their disconnected lifestyles?
In recent years the internet has become an essential tool for education, business, travel and so many other aspects of modern life. Indeed, for members of the younger generation, life without internet seems almost unimaginable and unlivable. According to Kathryn Zickuhr, who wrote Pew’s internet connectivity study, the disconnected Americans are disproportionately older, with 49% of them being over 65 years of age.
In general, here disconnected Americans tend to be less educated too. Whilst almost everyone in America with a college-level education has access to an internet connection, as many as 41% of adults without a high school diploma remain offline. Household income is another factor which influences internet connectivity amongst Americans.
Although millions of people remain unconnected, the advent of smartphones and mobile devices has helped to close the connection gap slowly. Thanks to the availability of relatively inexpensive smart devices, internet connections are rising slowly to reach the last offline Americans.
