There are two emotional and intellectual realities that have crystallized through all these surveys: First, we never ask about everything we want to know. Second, by the time the next survey is ready to be written, the technology world will have changed in startling ways that need to be addressed. Those are good things as far as Janna and I are concerned. That means we have an excuse to keep doing this work. Even now I’m honing question language about the impact of the “Internet of things” and the human reaction to the exaflood of data that will be created; about the impact of tech-based social networking as more nuances and sophistication are created in those spaces; about the impact of security concerns that seem ever-more-present on tech experts’ minds; and about the next great social question that will supplant Nicholas Carr’s great question: Is Google making us stOOped?
Those shouldn’t be the only questions, though. This is a crowd-sourced, participatory venture. Janna and I are grateful for the continued support of the thousands of people who have participated in our surveys and we invite you to share your own questions about the impact of the Internet and mobile phones in the future. You know how to find us. Please share your ideas.
––Lee Rainie, Director
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project