Segment: Digital Outsiders – The Internet Wary

Internet milieu: The Internet Wary (27%) – 19.1 million

The Internet Wary are occasional users of the medium (two-thirds are offliners anyway) who have very little knowledge about the Internet and little contact with digital media in their daily lives. To this group, the oldest of the milieus, the Internet is a strange world and seems threatening. Members of the group use only the basic functions and rely on the help of others.

They feel overwhelmed by the variety of information and communications technologies and suffer from the complexity, speed and amount of information. They have a hard time using the Internet, and they frequently feel helpless in this regard. At times, this leads to resignation and a general feeling of resistance – after all, they see few advantages or conveniences that the Internet can provide to their own lives.

Members of this group can be generally found in the traditional segment of society. In other areas of life, they also have a fundamental need for straightforwardness and a slower pace. The focus is less on searching for the new and unknown. Rather, it is placed on the achieved and the people and things a person already knows.

Their understanding of the dangers associated with the Internet is limited. As a result, they are extremely insecure. They have an exceptionally high desire for protection, triggered by their general skepticism and fear of data misuse. This feeling has less to do with the individuals themselves, but rather with their children and grandchildren because members of this group rarely, if ever, go online. The diffuse awareness of risks intensifies the feeling of living in an increasingly unsafe and threatening world.

The Internet Wary clearly think the government should provide online security and data protection. They support increased controls of the virtual world and call for the rules and restrictions that would make such controls possible. Just like in the real world, the government should assure law and order online, track down criminals and bring them to justice. Anonymity or the opportunity to pretend to be someone else should not be possible at all – and if someone deceives people online, actions should be immediately taken to “put the cuffs” on this person.

The Internet Wary (27%) – 19.1 million

Attitude profile

Communication requirements and needs for action

  • Need for steps to build confidence and to eliminate insecurity
  • Desire for specific personal assistance
  • Search for simple, secure services, guaranteed by trustworthy institutions
  • Desire for control of cyberspace by government officials; call for order, rules and restrictions

                                        

* Self-evaluation on a scale of 1 = “beginner” to 6 = “expert”
** Agreement with the statement “personal data on the Internet is very secure/secure”