IDEAS

“Odd” Internet Users

August 2nd 2006Maritza Guaderrama

Usually, when a study is conducted on the use of new forms of communication, a sample is established consisting of targets with profiles that approximate those of “average” Internet users: individuals between the ages of 15 and 55, mainly men who are employed, who have been using the Internet for more than a year, etc. This is unquestionably a correct sample.

However, in this article, I would like to focus on a part of the population who make very particular uses of the Internet who are no usually included in studies because they fall outside the average parameters cited above. The point is to reveal how these “odd” users might create opportunities for the development of new online services.

Leer este artículo en español: Usuarios “Raros” de Internet

 

When we think of the Internet, we almost never think of housewives above the age of 55 or retired men above the age of 65, do we? Well, six years of study of Internet users has allowed us to understand that the new technologies are being appropriated by people with these profiles in a diverse, often surprising way.

“I CHAT WITH OTHER WOMEN IN MY HOMETOWN”

In a study on use of Internet as a means of communication with women above 50, initial results did not seem to contradict the expectations we held about this segment:

• They were basic users of Internet; in fact, some found it difficult to use the mouse.
• In the “correlation of power” in the home, these women came last as those excluded from computer use, far behind even the smallest children.
• Internet use time was the residual family time: that is, when no one else wanted to or could sit down in front of the computer.

 

Nevertheless, even though they were “residual,” some women had generated some curious uses:

One of them used the Internet to “chat with other women in my hometown.” Her hometown had set up a website and added a chat facility. So this Internet user had found the following on the Internet:

• A way of keeping alive links to women in her hometown and thus feeling more integrated on weekend or summer visits.
• As space for personal realization because she could discuss issues and memories that she could not mention to anyone else.
• A way of reducing the phone bill: Internet allowed her to be in contact with people she would not call so as to keep down the phone bill.

 

Another of the women interviewed said that her son – a student of information technology – convinced her to set up a website to display her handicrafts. So the women learned how to upload her work, and she had even received a couple of “commissions.”

 

Other women found the Internet to be a wonderful source of information on:

• Recipes.
• “Tips and tricks from grandma”.
• Health.
• Issues related to relationships and children.
• Participation in forums or surveys on different subjects.

 

“I SAVE MONEY THANKS TO MY DAUGHTER”

In another study on recreational and travel habits, people above the age of 65 were added to the sample. Although resistance to making online purchases was the dominant theme, as was to be expected, we did find cases of “converts” to the new technologies: older users who said they had gone from a complete refusal towards adopting online buying habits that were totally diverse and uninhibited.

In many cases, patterns revealed a peculiar case of “prescription inversion.” Until recently, adults or older people would be the ones to recommend products or services to young people. Now, the Internet is inverting this model: young people are helping their parents or grandparents make a more sophisticated use of the Internet.

Such was the case of a 67-year-old man whose daughter was studying in England and had helped her father buy cheap plane tickets on the Internet. As a result, the girl's parents had begun to enjoy a more active retirement by taking advantage of low-price tickets for flights around Europe . The negative consequence – as explained by the interviewee while laughing – is that the daughter had received more visits from her parents than she perhaps would have liked.

 

Another interesting case that arose in the study involved a man who was a flamenco lover. On one particular occasion, he could not find the time to purchase tickets at the theater box office, so he asked his son to “take the risk” of buying them online. Since then, according to the person surveyed, there were no shows in either Madrid or the Madrid region beyond his reach.

 

Though at first glance each of these cases would seem to be isolated, we are finding ever more “odd users” or unexpected uses of the Internet by people not included in the statistical averages. These are groups of people who are discovering the new technologies in different way than young people or young adults. They arrived late at the Internet party – housewives older than 55, retired people, immigrants with a minimal education -, but once they find their place, or rather their use, they become faithful and assiduous users of a service that satisfies their demands.

This is an interesting challenge for technological innovation and for the development of new market niches.