Where is Digi Joe Public?

The Guardian covers a poll of 2,012 UK adults which has uncovered a new demographic profile, ‘Digi Joe Public’, the man on the street who is heavily involved in online life. The poll revealed that “nearly four in 10 of that group have read a blog, with a quarter having started their own blog or website. Nearly three-quarters have downloaded music and almost a quarter have downloaded at least one movie”. Blogging and online socialising, it would appear, is no longer the preserve of geeks and teens.

So where are these people?

I don’t have the largest social circles in the world, but of the (say) thirty friends outside of media who I’ve talked to about blogs and blogging, around two have admitted to anything other than downloading music and ’stuff’. The majority said they didn’t know anyone who blogged either. Basically, they just looked at me in a strange way. That sort of look that you get when you say, “I really enjoy a good session of D&D”.

Every blogger I do know is someone who I’ve either contacted for research purposes or who has contacted me through this blog. Every single one of them blogs either as a part of or an enhancement of their professional work.

So are the results wrong, or do I just need better friends? One possible flaw is that it was an online poll, so the people questioned were (a) online (b) the sort of people who volunteer to do polls. That would skew the results, but not to the extent where they were totally inaccurate. It pays to be sceptical of polls, but not too much so when they’re the only facts we have.

One other possibility is that ’starting a website’ could be pretty broad. If you sign up with an ISP you might get free web space, does that count even if you never fill it up? Sign up for Plaxo, Linked-In, MySpace, Bebo, YouTube, Yahoo, Google, and you get a personal profile page of some description. Does that count? If they do, then I would have an easier time squaring the claims with my own experience.

‘Digi Joe Public’ probably prefers to go by just plain Joe.

Update: thoughts from Drew and Antony.

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16 October 2006
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6 Comments

Drew B

16/Oct/2006

“I really enjoy a good session of D&D”

Lol :-)

Ian Delaney

16/Oct/2006

I meant HYPOTHETICALLY!

..damn

David Cruickshank

16/Oct/2006

I agree with you Ian but the problem with the tech world is the language. If I asked my ‘non-media’ friends they would say the same as yours. However, I suspect that the fact that they don’t know what a blog is doesn’t mean they haven’t ever read one.

You see, to my sister, my Mum and my best mate ‘a blog’ has no meaning. But they know what a website is and a blog fits that description precisely. I’d go as far as to suggest that the vast majority of ‘blog readers’ don’t know what a blog is - but they still visit and read the stuff we write. They just don’t care what the wrapper’s called. Kinda makes sense if you think about it. Why call it a blog when it could still be a website? Why call it RSS when we could use ‘website feed’? Why call it ‘content management system’ when it could be ‘website editor’? I guess it’s because the inventors / innovators have to market these things as something new to catch the early adopters’ attention - and the early adopters LOVE learning new geeky terms. Smartphone - I mean c’mon! Mobile still works for me!

Simon Wakeman

16/Oct/2006

David’s absolutely right - the problem with these types of market research is that often the language used is why the results feel wrong.

Bob Boydston

16/Oct/2006

The first time I saw the title to this riff I thought it said, “Where is Deja vu Joe Public?” (But maybe it was just too much wine.)

But, after reading it I think Deja vu is right on. How many times have we seen where pollsters are just asking the wrong questions to the wrong people? E.g., blog is a “technical” term and it can misunderstood by those who don’t really care what you call it.

Ian Delaney

17/Oct/2006

Bob - I reckon Deja Joe Public could catch on as the next ‘hot demographic’!

You’re all probably quite right, except the report did say ‘blog or web site’, as far as I can tell. That’s what the Guardian said. I won’t be spending £3K or whatever, to find out the finer details. Sorry.


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