Thanks to Stephen Abram for blogging this chart from the Ruder Finn Public Relations Firm.

This is the over all chart; there are also versions for men, women, youth and seniors (based on a survey of 500 Americans). Rather than looking at specific websites or services, this type of study looks at what people are trying to achieve. In examining this chart, I wonder if there is some overlap between “learning” and “having fun”: these activities often overlap for me in particular. The demographic breakdown is also worth remarking on: 93% of men surveyed “go online to be entertained” (75% for women). On the other hand, 50% of  youth (“youth” is not defined here but I presume they are using one of the standard definitions such as 18-25 years old) “go online specifically to rage against a specific person or individual.” The study scores highly in my book for visual design but is a bit weak in terms of definitions and content – maybe those aspects are restricted to paying clients though.

Libraries have great strength in the learning department and often do well in community. If we want our patrons to stay with the Library, then we need to enrich our online presence. Can we combine learning with other intents such as “socialize” and “express yourself”? There are still a lot of cases where the digital presence of a library only allows one-to-one communication. In the academic library context, what about encouraging students to create bibliographies and reading lists online? Something like, “Here are the 15 books and 15 articles I used for my European history paper,” inspired by the Amazon Wishlist concept but better – allow other users to rate it, comment and share their lists too. I think this Internet-enabled drive to connect socially and learn is an important trend that continue to provide librarians with the opportunity to innovate.

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