Hello, my name is MEB and I'm addicted to technology. Like any other addiction it started out slowly. An IM here, a phone call there. It wasn't a big deal. I could quit anytime. Before I knew it I was checking my email as soon as I woke up in the morning, letting my work pile up while I read my favorite online columns, and losing sleep while I checked Facebook "one last time" before I went to bed. It was a slippery slope, and I slid down fast. Without realizing it I had developed a full-blown addiction. The weird thing is, I would never classify myself as a "techy" person. I've never had to have the latest and greatest gadget. In fact, my first cell phone (circa 2000) was affectionately nicknamed the Zack Morris phone.
(For those of you that missed this pop culture reference, please stop whatever you are doing and immediately find DVDs of Saved By the Bell - possibly the greatest TV show of the early '90s.)
A girl that had a Zack Morris cell phone when everyone else had those tiny Nokias was not technologically advanced...
I have no idea when things changed, but I didn't realize how far I had come until I took a quiz for one of my classes. My professor sent out a link to a Pew Internet Quiz. (BTW - If you're not familiar with the Pew Internet Project, you should really check it out. It's a great resource.) Here's the link for the quiz:
And here are my results:
Where do you fit?
Your Results
Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Omnivores typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic.
Omnivores make up 8% of the American public.
Basic Description
Members of this group use their extensive suite of technology tools to do an enormous range of things online, on the go, and with their cell phones. Omnivores are highly engaged with video online and digital content. Between blogging, maintaining their Web pages, remixing digital content, or posting their creations to their websites, they are creative participants in cyberspace.
Defining Characteristics
You might see them watching video on an iPod. They might talk about their video games or their participation in virtual worlds the way their parents talked about their favorite TV episode a generation ago. Much of this chatter will take place via instant messages, texting on a cell phone, or on personal blogs. Omnivores are particularly active in dealing with video content. Most have video or digital cameras, and most have tried watching TV on a non-television device, such as a laptop or a cell phone.
Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.
Who They Are
They are young, ethnically diverse, and mostly male (70%). The median age is 28; just more than half of them are under age 30, versus one in five in the general population. Over half are white (64%) and 11% are black (compared to 12% in the general population). English-speaking Hispanics make up 18% of this group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many (42% versus the 13% average) of Omnivores are students.
Apparently the days of outdated technology are way behind me. And I am realizing that if I want to be successful in this industry, I have to stay on top of things. Not only do I need to educate myself on what is out there, but I need to use it too. If you're not current, then you're irrelevant.
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