Broadband ISP PlusNet UK has today released the first results from its latest survey, which found that over a quarter (26%) of the 1,096 respondents questioned by Opinion Matters were still unfamiliar with common internet jargon like 'bandwidth', 'Wi-Fi', 'cursor', 'router' and 'download'.

It may also surprise some of our younger readers that people aged 55+ scored better than them when it came to jargon-busting. A respectably strong 72% claimed to understand all of the terms perfectly, which fell to 61% for those aged 16-24.


PlusNet has today released a new "all-you-need-to-know" guide, which is designed to help close the above gap by splitting common internet jargon into bite-sized chunks. We're not sure if it really is "all-you-need-to-know" (very doubtful) but here it is anyway.

PlusNet's All-you-need-to-know Internet Guide
http://community.plus.net/guide/

UPDATE 9th December 2011

Some further details from the full results.

Exactly 39% of 16-24 year olds did not have a clue about these expressions, which is much more than the national statistic of 27%. Conducting the research revealed an assortment of strange habits, all which were much more common amongst the 25-34 age group:

1. Scrolling to the top of the web page so it’s ready for the next person to use [8%], compared to 3% of over 55s
2. Using twitter as a search engine [7%], compared to 1% of over 55s
3. Attempting to use their normal screen as a touchscreen [7%], compared to less than 1% of over 55s
4. Attempting to attach a dongle to a TV aerial or object outside the house [8%], compared to 1% of over 55s
5. Emailed bank details to a bank/friend [3%], compared to less than 1% of over 55s

Over a fifth [22%] of those aged over 55 have taken lessons on how to use the internet, compared to only 8% of 16-24 year olds, showing that it is not just the older generations who should make use of such classes.

Sending emails and shopping online are the stronger areas for those aged over 55, with 96% and 91% claiming confidence with these activities, compared to 94% and 83% amongst 16-24 year olds respectively.

Online bingo however is something that the younger generations are big on, much more so than the older generations, with 50% of those aged 16-24 confidently playing online compared to only 24% of those over 55.