Next Generation Users: The Internet in Britain

The Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) regularly surveys Britons to find out how they access, use, and think about the internet, and how it affects their everyday lives. This report on the 2011 edition describes the emergence of ‘next generation users’ who are developing a new pattern of internet use. These users have joined two separate but related trends: portability, with the use of mobile devices, and access through multiple devices, such as multiple computers, readers, tablets, and laptop computers.

This transformation in Internet access is linked to important changes in patterns of use, and therefore in the social implications of use. For example, next generation users are more likely both to produce and consume content online. The report further shows that next generation users are not evenly distributed, but have higher incomes, indicating a new digital divide in Britain and other nations. The report goes on to lay out the broader state of the internet in Britain, including with respect to social networks, politics, and regulation.