Online connectivity and confidence still a work in progress
This week, I attended an event at the British Library organised by the communications regulator Ofcom under the title “Making Sense Of Media”. At this occasion, Ofcom launched a Making Sense Of Media Network and a Making Sense Of Media Advisory Panel.
The proportion of non-users of the Internet in the UK is unchanged since 2014 and stands at 13%. Older people and those in socio-economic groups D & E remain less likely to be online. Some 33% of those aged 64-74 and 48% of those aged 75+ are still not on the Net. Some 23% of DE groups are off-line.
Discussion at the event highlighted that the problem of online media literacy is not simply a question of whether one is on the Net or not. A significant proportion of those who are online only have access via a smartphone so they are using a small screen which makes many interactions more difficult.
Also there are issues of skills and confidence. Many of those who use the Net access a limited number of web sites and struggle with the use of online services whether it is completing application forms or purchasing goods. Furthermore there is quite widespread lack of understanding of which Google search results are sponsored and how trustworthy are different sources of news.
So we still have a way to go with digital literacy.