Many in U.S. still untouched by digital-age services
PITTSBURGH >> Lots of Americans have heard of Craigslist, Uber, Airbnb and Kickstarter, but those who actually use them tend to be younger, wealthier and more educated — an indication that the services disrupting traditional ways of doing business are not reaching every neighborhood and age group equally, according to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
That’s important because such services “have had a really outsize impact on the effect over regulations and the changing nature of jobs,” said Aaron Smith, an associate director at Pew who assembled the first in a series of surveys on the digital economy that the Washington, D.C., research group plans to roll out.
The study found the population using ride-hailing, home-sharing and crowd-funding platforms is “heavily concentrated” on the young, wealthy and well educated. It also suggested a large chunk of Americans aren’t familiar with the jargon of the digital age. About as many people who have used an online service could not explain what the term “sharing economy” exactly means.
Overall, nearly 3 in 4 American adults have used a shared or on-demand service, and about 20 percent have used four or more such services.
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One response to “Many in U.S. still untouched by digital-age services”
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The article suggested the young, wealthy, more educated tend to use the cheaper mode of transportation like the Uber, etc. Thought the wealthy would be more selective and ride alone or “share”! Strange? Can agree that the older generation are passe and not quick to adapt or adopt!