PewInternet.org

Networked: The New Social Operating System …… and Organizational Operating System

NEXTGOV December 3, 2012Lee Rainie: Director, Pew Internet ProjectEmail: Lrainie@pewinternet.org

What is the Pew Internet Project?

Number Of Users Who Actually Enjoy Facebook Down To 4

A comprehensive and groundbreaking new report released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project has found that only four users of Facebook derive pleasure of any kind from the popular social networking website.

According to the report, the remainder of the 950 million people registered with Facebook, despite using the site on a regular basis, take no joy in doing so, and in fact feel a profound sense of hopelessness and despair immediately upon logging in…

.... “As it turns out, the vast majority of human beings tend to become depressed when they see the past five years of their life summarized right there in front of them in a sad little timeline,” said lead researcher John Elliott.

The traits of networked information

• Pervasively generated• Pervasively consumed• Personal• Participatory / social• Linked• Continually edited• Multi-platformed

• Real-time / just-in-time

• Timeless / searchable

• Defined and structured by “algorithmic authority”

Digital Revolution 1: BroadbandInternet (85%) and Broadband at home (66%)

Networked creators and curators (among internet users)

• 69% are social networking site users• 59% share photos and videos

• 46% creators; 41% curators• 37% contribute rankings and ratings• 33% create content tags • 30% share personal creations • 26% post comments on sites and blogs• 16% use Twitter • 14% are bloggers• 18% (of smartphone owners) share their locations;

74% get location info and do location sharing

Impact on knowledge and organizations

• Rise of “fifth estate” of civic and community actors (including citizen “vigilantes”)

• Information becomes “networked” through links, crowdsourcing, perpetual editing/feedback

• Harder to control organizational messages to the public

Revolution 2: Mobile – 89% of adults46% smartphones / 25% tablets

321.7Total U.S. population:315.5 million

2012

Apps > 50% of adults

Series10%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

22%

29%

38%43%

Sept 2009 May 2010 August 2011 April 2012

% of cell owners who have downloaded apps

• Information becomes pervasive – a “third skin” • Attention zones change

– “Continuous partial attention”– Deep dives– Info snacking

• Real-time, just-in-time searches and availability change process of acquiring and using information– Spontaneous activities– Be “ready for your closeup”

• Augmented reality highlights the merger of data world and real world

Impact on knowledge and organizations

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

9%

49%

67%76%

86% 87% 92%

7%8%

25%

48%

61%68% 73%

6%4%

11%

25%

47%49% 57%

1%7%

13%

26%

29%38%

18-29 30-49 50-64 65+

Digital Revolution 3Social networking – 59% of all adults

% of internet users

• Composition and character of people’s social networks change AND they become important channels of learning and influence

• Self-learning and DIY learning are elevated• Amateur experts sit aside credentialed experts• Organizations can become “helper nodes” in

people’s networks

Impact on knowledge and organizations

• New pathways into people’s attention zones• More people in your kitchen• More demands for transparency• Greater imperative to know what your

workers know – helps organizations outside the civil service structure

• More attempts at breaking and entering

Meta-impact on knowledge and organizations

The impact of Big Data?http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Future-of-Big-Data.aspx

Future of Big Data• Thanks to many changes, including the building of "the

Internet of Things," human and machine analysis of large data sets will improve social, political, and economic intelligence by 2020. The rise of what is known as "Big Data" will facilitate things like "nowcasting" (real-time "forecasting" of events); the development of "inferential software" that assesses data patterns to project outcomes; and the creation of algorithms for advanced correlations that enable new understanding of the world. Overall, the rise of Big Data is a huge positive for society in nearly all respects.

Future of Big Data• Thanks to many changes, including the building of "the

Internet of Things," human and machine analysis of Big Data will cause more problems than it solves by 2020. The existence of huge data sets for analysis will engender false confidence in our predictive powers and will lead many to make significant and hurtful mistakes. Moreover, analysis of Big Data will be misused by powerful people and institutions with selfish agendas who manipulate findings to make the case for what they want. And the advent of Big Data has a harmful impact because it serves the majority (at times inaccurately) while diminishing the minority and ignoring important outliers. Overall, the rise of Big Data is a big negative for society in nearly all respects.

Future of Big Data

Improve intelligence

53%Cause new problems

39%

Themes

• Jeff Jarvis: “Demonizing data … is demonizing knowledge” … and the analytical tools will only get better

• Human capacities are the key to its success and likely shortcomings

• DIY analytics/monitoring will be as helpful as Big Data numbers crunching

• Don’t downplay the “dark side” of surveillance society• “How to lie with the Internet of Things” / “distribution

of harms” (Oscar Gandy)

Surprise/delight

• Patrick Tucker“Computer science, data-mining, and a growing network of sensors and information-collection software programs are giving rise to a phenomenal occurrence, the knowable future.”

4th revolution?

• Interfaces – haptic, voice, collaborative• Expanded search into video and audio• 3D printing• Internet of Things: Smart appliances and

systems• Gamification of information

Your map is wrong

Thank you!