I had a fantastic Easter break. A family sojourn to the bush provided an idyllic escape from my online life - no laptop, no phone signal and no Internet reception. *Bliss
Of course, as we didn’t have technology, we spoke about it. We couldn’t be online, so we discussed being online and the different habits we’ve all developed – from checking daily weather and reading news updates first thing in the morning, to receiving recipes via RSS for tonight’s dinner or Googling directions to a kids’ playdate.
We live amid a live stream of constantly flowing information and communications, and active participation has become a given for most of us. The side effect is, of course, that we spend more time online than ever before.
Returning from what I refer to as my ‘Bush Zen-Zone’, I opened my inbox to find a copy of the Digital Lifestyle Survey. It stresses many of the discussions we had while away about how, inadvertently, we’ve become digital and information dependant. Whether who rocked up first to the royal wedding is important or not, we want to know – because everyone else will know. Being constantly up-to-date has become a familiar state.
From the Digital Lifestyle Information Survey 2011 – Magnify.net, Steven Rosenbaum:
• 48.5% of the survey respondents stated they were online from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep.
Image Credit: Magnify.net
• 61.3% consider the content they share part of their identity.
• 57.4% never turn off their phones.
• 33% check emails in the middle of the night.
• 46.9% cannot answer all their emails.
• 41.4% feel that they are missing out on important news.
• 39.9% feel that they are ignoring family or friends.
This online lifestyle is also increasing work pressure:
• 31.6% expect their colleagues to respond to them at all times.
• 35.2% answer work emails while spending time with their children.
• 76.8% are required to be available online for work .
• 41.2% say clients expect them to be available at all times.
How Internet users are trying to cope:
Image Credit: Magnify.net
We’re surrounded by this constant flow of information, but how much of it can we actually absorb?
Image Credit: Magnify.net
From The 24 Hour Customer – Adrian Ott:
• “More data will be generated in the next four years than in the history of the world.”
• The amount of data available online in 2010 was 1.2 zettabytes. By 2020, this figure will grow exponentially to 35 zettabytes.
• We absorb data at a rate of 126 bits per second.
• We listen at a rate of 40 bits per second.
• “People see more than 34 billion bits of information per day – an equivalent of two books a day.”
• The Internet can transfer a lifetime of learning in just 29 hours.
• Social Media users generate data at an exponential rate. Of that information, only 25% is unique.
You can view an online version of the infographic, as published in the book, here.
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