The World Online How UK citizens use the internet to find out about ...

executive summary• Internet usage is driven by personal needand interest. Unlike broadcast and print,there is little discovery of content notdirectly relevant to the individual. Chanceencounters are few.•The audience’s relationship with the internetdiffers greatly from that with more traditionalmedia. Where broadcast and print mediadictate the stories told, the internet allowsaudiences to choose what they want to know.• The online news relationship is aboutbreadth of headline awareness and depthonly when a story is interesting. The youngerthe audience, the less ‘news interested’they are, and the more willing they are toadmit it.• The sphere of interest is primarily UKfocused, and therefore audiences rarelyencounter the wider world online. Thereare few examples of occasions whendevelopment issues meet personal areas ofinterest or relevance (e.g. a child on a gapyear, the World Cup in South Africa)• There is some evidence of the internet beingused to follow up specific lines of enquiry ormicro issues, such as finding out more aboutan interesting documentary on TV or how todo some volunteering work on holiday.• Since most people lack experience of findingout about the developing world online, theyhave little idea as to how they might go aboutit. Almost all searches start with Google, andthis search engine dependency brings withit a range of online literacy issues (notreflected in daily internet usage).• There is confusion around how to start asearch (which words to type in), how toassess the value and trustworthiness ofa range of unknown websites, and howto analyse the information gleaned whenrespondents have paid little attention to theactual websites and organisations visited.• Online illiteracy issues are more pronouncedthe older the audience. Confidence islower and usage more restricted to a fewcore activities.• Sites themselves are viewed very quickly,and are often dismissed on superficialgrounds (an unknown organisation is morelikely to be viewed than a familiar one if itssite looks more enticing). The aesthetics,layout and promise of interesting or relevantcontent are crucial in encouraging a visit.• There are four key challenges fororganisations involved in the communicationof development issues online:– There is a lack of interest in developmentissues unless they are personally relevant.– The internet makes avoidance ofdevelopment issues easier than other media.– Search engine dependency makes itdifficult for NGOs and other developmentrelated brands to cut through.– Audiences are either ‘news interested’or ‘internet savvy’ – few are both.Title of chapter/subchapter 3