Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Overview As the Pew Internet Project documented in its “Home Broadband 2009” report, African Americans trail the national average in broadband access at home, and have experienced below-average growth in home broadband adoption the past two years. Some 46% of African Americans report having broadband at home in April 2009, up slightly from 43% in […]
Summary of Findings The debate over revamping the nation’s health care system is drawing increased public attention. A third (33%) say they are following the health care debate very closely, up from 24% the previous week. And while news coverage of health care also increased over the past week, a sizable minority of Americans (45%) […]
The discovery of a giant rat species in Papua New Guinea and the shout of a Congressman during Obama’s health care speech led the blogs last week. Twitter, on the other hand, proved to be ever more self-absorbed. And on YouTube, it was still health care, albeit in a more civil tone.
Last week, for the first time in two months, the most discussed news story on Twitter was something other than unrest in Iran. Instead, it was Twitter itself and the outage the site faced on August 6. In the blogosphere, attention was focused on an unusual lawsuit. And on YouTube, the top videos involved rising political temperatures in the dog days of summer.
COMMENTARY by Dr. Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer American Association for the Advancement of Science Executive Publisher, Science Americans by and large admire scientists — only slightly less than members of the military or teachers, in fact. The U.S. public recognizes research and development, perhaps especially to drive medical advances, as an investment in […]
Summary of Findings The death of pop star Michael Jackson continued to grab public attention last week, with Americans saying it was the story they followed most closely for the third straight week. Moreover, Jackson’s death was by far the week’s most talked about news story. About three-in-ten (29%) say they followed Jackson’s memorial service […]
Bloggers, even more so than the mainstream press, dedicated the week to the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Twitter users linked to Kennedy as well, but were more caught up in new legislation that could affect their online activities. And according to YouTube clicks, health care town halls still make for good viewing.