by Isabel
Before going ahead with Our DEH Community, I sent out a questionnaire that would help assess how many community members are “Netizens” (Internet citizens) and to what degree. The questionnaire also sought to gauge DEH residents’ interest in participating in community life — would we be interested in reading reports about the community, chapel or parish activities, or the youth? Would we participate in online discussions on community issues?
One questionnaire was sent out per household. Of the 200 that were distributed, only 74 were returned. This represents about one-fourth of the number of households in DEH — a small sample, but good enough to get a feel of how and to what extent we were interested in community life.
(To skip the statistics and read ahead, click here.)
What the survey said
Most of the respondents (60%) access the Internet from home, with majority (33%) going online only once a day. When asked to rank the reasons for going online, not surprisingly, the respondents gave email the highest ranking (87%), followed by research (79%). Blogging and reading other people’s blogs each accounted for only a small percentage (21%).
When asked which of the different aspects of community life would interest them, the respondents indicated the most interest in current community issues/events (58%), followed by chapel/parish activities (39%). Participating in online discussions got the least response (26%).
Most of the respondents (32%) were neutral about having a DEH web site or blog; about half this number (18%) gave it a high priority. According to the majority (32%), a web site or blog about the community should carry news about current events/projects/activities. Other suggestions for content were ads (12%), community problems and concerns (10%), and information about neighbors (8%).
For the parish, the responses were similar — a number of respondents (14%) thought a parish web site or blog was a top priority, but the majority (22%) were neutral about it. Content suggestions included parish programs and activities (21%), a schedule of services (17%), official stand on issues (14%), and profiles of priests (10%). However, as St. Benedict Parish (of which Our Lady of Remedies is just a subparish) encompasses a larger community than DEH, these are by no means exhaustive results.
It is interesting that most of the respondents (20%) were from the 21-30 age bracket, followed by the below 21 bracket (18%). I later learned that some homeowners let their children or grandchildren answer the questionnaire because it involved the Internet — a subject they perhaps felt was better suited to the younger members of the household. (The youngest respondent was 12 years old, by the way.) Seventeen percent did not give their ages.
So what?
What does all this mean for DEH, you ask?
The purpose of the survey was to measure how interested DEH residents are in community life. Though the results indicated a high level of interest in community affairs, there was a general attitude of neutrality about having a web site or blog that would both inform us of these affairs and enable us to participate.
Was this a consequence of the medium, of the subject matter, or of age — or a combination? Intimidation with the Internet appears to be a non-issue, as members of the community do go online for communication (email) and information (research) purposes. Was the neutral attitude then a sign of resistance to an unfamiliar form of Internet use (i.e. reading a community blog and participating in interactive discussions)?
Or is it a question of the subject matter and not the medium? Perhaps community members do not see the point in enhancing our experience of community life through the Internet — after all, a short visit with neighbors or a phone call would be faster and much more intimate.
Or, given that most of the respondents were younger than 30, perhaps the results indicate that their priorities simply lie in other things. Is it then a matter of channeling and concretizing their interest in the community into participation?
Are we as a community ready to be engaged in community life? Do we want to make ourselves heard through the Internet? Your comments and reactions are most welcome. No doubt the answers to these questions will make themselves obvious as we continue with this blog.
Thank you for your participation in the survey, and for your interest in the community.
