Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, gave the keynote address this morning: “Shifting Worlds: Internet Librarians at the Forefront”. He discussed the latest findings from the project, just as he did at last year’s conference. Some highlights that I found interesting:

For the United States…

* Half of U.S. internet users are now using broadband regularly.
* 2/3 of users have access to broadband even if it’s not their regular method of connecting.
* 20% of Americans have never been online.
* People who are using dial-up today are less likely to switch and upgrade to broadband than in previous years.
* Chat room usage is declining heavily due to other communication technologies like blogs, social networking sites, and instant messenger.

For American teenagers, age 12 – 17…

*They will engage online advertisements if they think they’re relevant (whereas adults are more likely to be turned off by ads).
*19% of teenagers have started their own blog.
*Multi-tasking! It’s all about multi-tasking, including email, the web, cell phones and instant messaging. All at once.