Broadband is for Social Activities, not Faster but Different

'The most important part of mastering the potential of broadband is what we call "wow moments",' says this iSociety report into broadband take-up and how to promote it. 'Wow moments' are people's online experiences that suddenly connect the internet more completely into ordinary life - an online activity that makes sense of using the medium. 'Most of these moments are not individual voyages of discovery. Instead they are things people do together and are best understood socially. Broadband users do not actually spend much more time surfing the web than narrowband users, but they do spend a lot more time creating and sharing content, and using community-based applications. Most of the things we watched people doing online – even on trading sites like eBay – were strongly anchored in the shared everyday experience of family and friends,' says the report.

"Fat Pipes, Connected People – Rethinking Broadband Britain" looks at how the Government's initiative to provide access and stimulate take-up has fared and what might contribute to shifting users to the new platform.

The "Broadband Britain" initiative had a slow start, but the country now has over two-and-a-half million broadband subscribers – a number set to more than double by 2005, says the report. The UK will then have overtaken France as the second largest broadband market in Europe. 'This is because the supply side of the market – how to run, deliver, and price broadband – is working well,' say the authors James Crabtree and Simon Roberts.

However, they argue, there is a problem on the demand side. Some areas of the country have 100% broadband availability, but take-up could be faster. The report proposes a three-stage process to understanding how to increase broadband uptake: adoption, adaptation, and absorption.

Adoption
'The process of adoption is the obsession of the broadband industry and we start by asking why people buy broadband. ...the market stands at a critical juncture, ready to reach a new type of consumer – the everyday user.' The report proposes 'broadband microbarriers' as a way exploring how consumers assess the benefits and risks of upgrading.

Adaptation
'It would be entirely possible to adopt broadband and not change your surfing habits one bit. ...Yet the evidence suggests this is not what happens. Broadband users do more with their connection and spend longer online. Looking at adoption is not helpful here. Instead we need to understand adaptation.' The report identifies four ways in which broadband users find out new things about the internet. These are: self-discovery; rediscovery; directed discovery; and proxy discovery.

Absorption
'However, having a connection and finding some cool things to do is still not enough. The final step is taking both and weaving them into the fabric of life. ...This continual process of adaptation and absorption drives internet use.'

Those of you familiar with Roger Silverstone's model of technology's integration into everyday life will recognise aspects of the process outlined above. What the report then does is apply the research and analysis undertaken in this framework to ask how the marketing for broadband relates to everyday use.

This allows the authors to question broadband's two main selling points: speed and always-on. 'Ever increasing connection speeds enable more activities, but they do not necessarily lead to ever increasing levels of use. And getting things done faster is not always a user objective.' and 'Equally, but for different reasons, broadband is not always "always-on" and promoting it as such is often ineffective.'

The report concludes: 'All too often we assume that broadband helps its users rush to get things done. Our research suggests something quite different. Broadband time emerges as "timeless time" in which users dip in and out of the internet. As one of our respondents said: "Broadband is about not having worrying if the peas are boiling over in the kitchen. Broadband time is about taking it easy."'

Associated Link: Fat Pipes, Connected People – Rethinking Broadband Britain

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