The internet is an integral part of our everyday life. We are connected to it 24/7 through our desktop or portable computers, smartphones or tablet computers, and even our TV sets (and, probably, other household appliances in the near future). With this huge penetration of the global information network in our life, it is surprising how many people don’t know the basic concepts behind it – as shown by a study conducted by the Pew Center, cited by the CS Monitor.
A recent study conducted by the Pew Center for Internet and American Life consisting of a 12-question quiz-type survey has shown that the majority of Americans don’t understand how the internet works, and are not familiar with the most famous faces of the industry built on top of it. The quiz, taken by over 1,000 people, included questions about famous figures of the information technology industry, basic questions about the structure of the internet and about terms routinely used online.
According to Aaron Smith, senior researcher at the Pew Center, only 34% of the respondents were familiar with Moore’s Law – about how many transistors can be placed on a chip. This may not be the easiest question of them all. But what’s more surprising is that only 23% of the people who took the quiz know that the internet and World Wide Web are not the same thing. One of the questions of the quiz showed a picture of Bill Gates – he was recognized by over 80% of the respondents. In turn, only 9% of the participants knew which the world’s first popular graphic web browser was. Besides, over 40% of the participants thought that if a company posts a privacy policy that means that it won’t disclose the data collected about its users.
If you want to know how internet-literate you are, you can still take the quiz at the Pew Center website. I have taken it, and I’m proud to report that I have answered 10 of the 12 questions correctly (I failed to recognize the female personality and I gave the wrong answer about the privacy policy question).
How well did you do?