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Autonomy with digital tools increases with degree and decreases with age (Digital Barometer 2019)

The Digital Agency has introduced in the 2019 edition of the Barometer (as in 2018) a series of questions that aim to better understand how the French cope with the difficulties they encounter when using computer and digital tools.Family and friends, the main source of help in case of difficulties in using digital toolsResponses to the question "When you encounter a difficulty using computer and digital tools: what do you do?" highlight a wide range of behaviors.First of all, there is a form of symmetry at both ends of the spectrum: 8% of respondents say they never encounter difficulties, while 5% give up as soon as they encounter a difficulty (11% of respondents never use computer and digital tools).In case of difficulties with the use of digital tools, 42% seek help. 35% seek help from family and friends, 2% from work colleagues, 4% from other actors (computer equipment vendors, in particular) and only 1% from a professional or a volunteer in a public Internet access place (public digital or multimedia space, media library...).Following the Credoc analysts, we can break down the population into four groups:The " autonomous" people (39%): they declare that they never encounter difficulties (8%) or declare that they manage on their own (31%).People who seek help (42%): the vast majority from their family and friendsPeople who give up as soon as they encounter a difficulty (5%)Non-users (11%)The feeling of autonomy increases with the level of education...The higher the level of education, the more individuals interviewed said they were managing on their own or had no problems. The proportion of independent users reaches 48% among bachelor's degree holders and 49% among college graduates. "It is likely that higher education graduates have benefited from a better introduction and training to computers during their initial studies and that people with higher incomes are more likely to be confronted with computer tools on a daily basis in their work, which induces either prior training during their studies or learning during their professional career.And decreases with age The proportion of autonomous users (who manage on their own or do not encounter difficulties) decreases steadily with age: from 66% among 18- 24 year olds, 56% among 25- 39 year olds, 41% among 40- 59 year olds, 24% among 60- 69 year olds, 15% among 70 year olds and over. (The gaps even widened between the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Barometer).Symmetrically, the propensity to ask for help from family and friends or colleagues increases with age: it rises from 25% in the 18-24 age group to 44% in the over-40 age group, 47% in the 60-69 age group, but drops to 34% in the over-70 age group.Men more autonomous? While the population of Internet users is made up of as many men as women, men more often claim to be able to manage alone (38%) than women (25%). They are more likely to say they do not encounter any difficulties (12%) than women (7%).Symmetrically, women are more likely (45%) than men (28%) to seek help from friends and colleagues.The question of "gender effects" in the relationship between men and women in the digital world has been at the heart of research on digital uses and skills for the past 15 years. Numerous studies have highlighted the fact that women are less confident in their digital skills.The Capacity survey conducted in 2017 had highlighted particularly strong differences between men and women in their perceived digital skills. "The skills score, compiling the answers given to all the questions on the different types of skills (operational, informal, social, creative and mobile) showed differences according to gender: a particularly marked gap for the lowest level, where there are many more women, and the highest score, which instead has many more men."These gender differences in perceived skills are found in most surveys that attempt to assess the digital skills of Internet users. One of the traditional explanations for the gender gap among adolescents is that boys develop more digital skills than girls because they spend more time on computers.A sense of autonomy that varies by professionThe proportion of independent users is the same for people with low and high incomes: 40%. However, the differences are greater depending on the occupation. The proportion of autonomous users reaches 57% among intermediate professions, 42% among employees and 42% among workers. It decreases significantly among the "inactive": homemakers (28%) and retirees (19%).The self-employed, employees and middle occupations, as well as homemakers, have higher than average levels of use of relatives (35%)."The more digital uses we have, the more trouble we get into"Contrary to some popular belief, digital difficulties are not just for the elderly or the poorest households.We can no longer be satisfied with categorizing the "excluded" or the " prevented" from using digital technology solely on the basis of age, diploma or social category. Contrary to some preconceived ideas, digital difficulties do not only concern the elderly or the poorest households.Senior citizens can be perfectly socialized but not very attracted by digital technology or, on the contrary, socially and geographically isolated but active on the networks; women raising their children alone can find in digital technology an opportunity to avoid becoming unsocialized or, on the contrary, experience it as an additional constraint in an already exhausting life.TheCapacity survey had also shown that, somewhat paradoxically, "the more digital uses we have, the more problems we have ... Clearly, when some people are content to go on Google and transfer photos to friends and family, they have few problems with the Internet," observes Jean-François Marchandise, general delegate of the FING (Fondation Internet Nouvelle Génération). "It's when you have several dozen different uses - which is the case for the average Internet user - that problems appear. We lose documents, we don't know how to publish and unpublish messages on certain sites, we are sometimes anxious about certain actions on a banking application or when processing our taxes... These new digital embarrassments concern people who are already connected. The more digital uses the French have not chosen, the more trouble they have".

• Large surveys

Published on 27/09/22



Beyond learning digital tools "on the job", 33% of French people would like to benefit from support in dedicated places

The digitization of society calls for regular adaptation and updating of knowledge in order to adapt to the new services, devices and functionalities regularly offered. This continuous learning effort is valid for people who are not too comfortable with digital technology as well as for others.The Digital Barometer (co-financed by the Agence du Numérique) sheds light on how people have "learned" about digital technology and their expectations in terms of support and training. Learning digital tools is done first alone, then with peers https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/91QY4/1/One in three people (31% of the first responses) say they learned to use digital tools "on their own"; 21% with the help of family members, 13% with friends or colleagues.Learning "on the job", alone or with peers (family, friends and colleagues) is thus the norm for the majority of respondentsAmong those who most frequently report having benefited from an apprenticeship as part of their initial training are those under 40 years of age (20%), university graduates and the most highly educated categories of workers (managers and members of the middle professions).Among those who have benefited the most from continuing education are executives (19%) and people in their sixties (15%). Another feature of the 60-somethings is the strong reliance on family members (children, even grandchildren) to learn how to take advantage of digital tools (27%).Women are less likely than men (24% vs. 39%) to report having learned digital tools on their own: 26% turned to family members (15% among men). 33% of people seeking support in a dedicated place to master digital tools The 2017 edition of the Digital Barometer highlights more structured needs for training or support in a dedicated location.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/RLgwc/1/Thus, when it comes to designating " the most suitable device to enable a better mastery of digital tools",17% of people mention personal coaching and 16% group courses in a dedicated place.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oi1OW/1/The categories that express the highest expectations in terms of support, whether personalized or via group courses, are the retired, the elderly (over 70 years old, 60-69 years old), the less educated, but also the upper middle class (in terms of income).

• Inclusion

Published on 05/07/18



Faced with difficulties in using digital tools, 36% of French people turn to their family and friends

The Digital Agency has introduced in the2018 edition of the Digital Barometer a series of questions to better understand how the French deal with the difficulties they encounter when using computer and digital tools and to better identify their expectations in terms of training and support. When faced with difficulties in using digital tools, family and friends are the first point of contact Responses to the question " When you encounter a difficulty using computer and digital tools: what do you do?"highlight a wide range of behaviors. First of all, there is a form of symmetry at both ends of the spectrum of digital tool users: 8% of respondents say they never encounter difficulties, while 8% give up as soon as they encounter a difficulty (10% of respondents never use computer and digital tools). In case of difficulties with the use of digital tools, 43% seek help. 36% seek help from family and friends, and 2% from work colleagues. 5% turn to professionals (salespeople, associations, companies, computer assistance) or specialized structures. Finally, 31% of the people surveyed said they were on their own. Following Credoc analysts, we can break down the population into three groups The "autonomous" people (39%): they declare that they never encounter difficulties (8%) or declare that they manage on their own (31%). People seeking help (43%): overwhelmingly from a relative Non-users (10%) The feeling of autonomy increases with the level of education... The higher the level of education, the more individuals interviewed said they were managing on their own or had no problems.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jDJKU/5/The proportion of independent users reaches 47% among bachelor's degree holders and 51% among college graduates. "It is likely that higher education graduates have benefited from a better introduction and training to computers during their initial studies and that people with higher incomes are more likely to be confronted with computer tools on a daily basis in their work, which induces either prior training during their studies or learning during their professional career. And decreases with age The proportion of autonomous users (who manage on their own or who do not encounter difficulties) decreases steadily with age: it goes from 61% among 18-24 year olds, 53% among 25-39 year olds, 38% among 40-59 year olds, 26% among 60-69 year olds, and 17% among 70 year olds and over.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/l2dpM/2/Symmetrically, the propensity to ask for help from relatives increases with age: it goes from 27% among 18-24 year olds to 43/44% among those over 40. Men more autonomous? While the population of Internet users is made up of as many men as women, men are more likely than women to say they have no problems (10%).https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vXvy5/5/The same is true for being on their own: 38% and 24% respectively. Symmetrically, women are more likely (44%) than men (28%) to seek help from a relative.The question of "gender effects" in men's and women's relationship to digital technology has been at the heart of research on digital uses and skills for the past 15 years. Numerous studies have highlighted the fact that women are less confident in their digital skills.L'Capacity survey conducted in 2017 had highlighted particularly strong differences between men and women in their perception of their digital skills. " The skills score, compiling the answers given to all the questions on the different types of skills (operational, informal, social, creative and mobile) showed gaps according to gender: a particularly marked gap for the lowest level, where there are many more women, and the highest score, which on the contrary has many more men." These gender differences in perceived skills are found in most surveys that attempt to assess the digital skills of Internet users. One of the traditional explanations for the gender gap in teenagers is that boys develop more digital skills than girls because they spend more time on computers. A sense of autonomy that varies by profession The proportion of independent users is almost the same among people with low incomes and those in the lower and upper middle classes: 37/38%. (By contrast, it is 45% among those with high incomes).On the other hand, the differences are greater depending on the occupation.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/t6iQk/4/The proportion of autonomous users reaches 63% among executives and higher intellectual professions, 51% among intermediate professions, 42% among employees and 38% among workers. It decreases significantly among the "inactive": homemakers (30%) and retirees (21%). In the latter two categories, there are high levels of recourse to relatives (41% and 44%), slightly higher than the average (36%).These results, following numerous studies, confirm that we can no longer be satisfied with categorizing the "excluded" or the "prevented" from the digital world according to age, diploma or social category alone. Contrary to certain preconceived ideas, digital difficulties do not only concern the elderly and the poorest households.Senior citizens can be perfectly socialized but not very attracted by digital technology or, on the contrary, socially and geographically isolated but active on the networks; women raising their children alone can find in digital technology an opportunity to avoid becoming unsocialized or, on the contrary, experience it as an additional constraint in an already exhausting life.L'Capacity survey had also shown that, somewhat paradoxically, " the more digital uses we have, the more trouble we have ... Clearly, when some people are content to go on Google and transfer photos to relatives, they have few problems with the Internet,"observes Jean-François MarchandiseIt's when you don't have to worry about the Internet that you're going to get into trouble," he says. "It' s when you have several dozen different uses - which is the case for the average Internet user - that problems appear. We lose documents, we don't know how to publish and unpublish messages on certain sites, we are sometimes anxious about certain actions on a banking application or when processing our taxes... These new digital embarrassments concern people who are already connected. Then, we have noticed that the more the French have non chosen digital uses, the more they have troubles ".See also:Who benefits from the use of the Internet? The reality of empowerment in the digital age Jacques-François Marchandise (FING): "To improve digital inclusion, we need to rethink social mediation

• Inclusion

Published on 29/05/19



Taking a step back: adopting new digital technologies and services is no longer a given (Digital Barometer 2019)

In 2019, 71% of respondents say they are ready to adopt new digital technologies or services immediately or gradually. They were 76% in 2017. A drop of 5 points. It is now 28% of respondents who express a form of distance from digital change.71% of French people ready to embrace digital change"The people who are most connected to the Internet and who generally trust digital tools for their personal and professional lives are also those who say they are ready to adopt new technologies," observes Credoc.Among those most willing to adopt new technologies in 2019 are 18-24 year olds (90%), 25-39 year olds (87%), university graduates (79%), executives (89%), middle class (83%), employees (77%), blue collar workers (74), upper middle class (74%), high income earners (89%), and residents of the Greater Paris area (+8 points).Conversely, the least willing to adopt new products or services are the oldest people (-30 points compared to the average), people living alone (-16 points), the non-educated (-17 points), the retired (-20 points), the low-income (-7 points) and people living in rural communities (-10 points).Taking a step back28% of respondents say they are not ready to adopt new digital technologies or services immediately or gradually. A drop of 5 points.This "distancing" does not affect, or marginally affects, 18-24 year olds and high earners.However, it is observed in categories of the population that until now were open to digital change.Among university graduates, the number of people ready to adopt new technologies drops from 90 to 79% (-11 points). The drop is 9 points among intermediate professions, 8 points among 40-59 year olds, employees and people living in the Greater Paris area, 7 points among executives and 5 points among 25-39 year olds, This "distancing" is identical among men and women (- 5 points). And this is despite the gap that remains between men and women in their relationship to new technologies: in 2017, 79% of men said they were ready to adopt new digital technologies or services compared to 74% of women. This gap continues in 2019 (74% and 69%). PolarizationThe questionnaire submitted by Credoc distinguished two modalities of adoption of new digital technologies and services: immediate and progressive. Credoc thus points to a slight increase (+3 points, from 24% in 2017 to 27% in 2019) in the number of people ready to adopt the new technology immediately and a decrease (-8 points) in the share of those who say they want to adopt it gradually, going from 52% to 44%).This ambivalence, according to Credoc, reflects " a polarization of attitudes towards new technologies"."Age," observes Credoc, " plays a particularly important role in this polarization: 39% of 18-24 year-olds feel ready to adopt new digital technologies or services 'immediately' (+15 points), while 26% of 40-59 year-olds do not want to go down this path (+8 points).  More than two-thirds of French people do not intend to use connected objects in the futureThis distancing is illustrated, observes the Credoc, "by the position of citizens in relation to connected objects"In 2019, only a minority of individuals (9%) own a connected speaker."More generally, connected objects are not yet unanimously accepted by the population. Only 16% of French people own a connected object related to one of the following four uses: household appliances, health, home automation or security. Conversely, more than two-thirds of the individuals surveyed say they will probably not use connected objects in the future for each of these uses. In relation to these different types of objects, the French seem to be more open to objects related to security (30% have one or plan to use one in the future) or home automation (29%) than to household appliances (25%) or health (26%), even though this last segment has the highest rate of equipment (11%, compared to a maximum of 6% for other uses).The position of the French towards connected objects depends mainly on the age of the individuals surveyed. Younger people are much more likely than older people to accept connected objects, regardless of their use: for example, 86% of 60-69 year olds say they will probably not use health-related connected objects in the future, compared to only 43% of 12-17 year olds. There are smaller, but significant, differences by degree level between non-graduates and graduates. Digital fatigueThis distancing, this 5-point drop in the number of people willing to embrace digital change probably refers to the phenomenon of "digital fatigue" that sociologists and the press have been pointing out for several years.The Conseil National du Numérique already pointed out in 2013 the considerable learning effort that people have made and still make to adapt to a digital environment that is constantly changing. "Digital technologies are constantly evolving and will require a recurring learning effort for everyone, throughout their lives. We are regularly confronted with a new digital device - from the self-service supermarket checkout to the automated hotline, via the online application for requesting a civil status form, tomorrow the smart meter for adapting consumption or the application for home medical monitoring, etc. It's an effort that not everyone is able to make.In 2014, the Fing devoted one of the chapters of its "Digital Transitions" foresight exercise to the " digital fatigue ": "Despite its undeniable benefits, digital technology increasingly appears, too, as a source of difficulties, even suffering... As digital equipment develops and diversifies, malfunctions multiply. In 2013, a survey estimated that each user spends three weeks a year simply managing their digital devices and data."This " digital fatigue " is fed by the growing dependence on digital tools, a sometimes brutal dematerialization (not only in administrations), the abuse of an attention design designed to maintain our addiction to screens and influence our choices, or the exponential increase in the volumes of information produced, exchanged and consumed, concerns about the collection and use of personal data or an increasingly acute awareness of the impacts of digital technology on the environment. The rise of "detox" practices and the emergence of tools and services to manage information, cognitive and time overload are part of this " distancing" .

• Large surveys

Published on 27/09/22