The previously fast-growing internet, social media and smartphone technologies have plateaued, according to new Pew Research Center data.
Additionally, 65% of U.S. adults say they have broadband at home, nearly the same as two years ago (67%).
However, there was a drop in laptop and PC ownership, from 78% in 2016 to 73% today, according to Pew Research.
According to Paul Hitlin, Pew Research senior researcher focusing on internet, science and technology, some groups have reached near-saturation levels for adoption of basic technologies. With few non-users left, it’s hard to move the needle on the numbers for the most popular technologies.
Additionally, some people who would want the new technologies can’t do so due to financial restrictions.
In a survey three years ago, 43% of non-broadband adopters cited cost (either the cost of a computer, or the cost of the broadband subscription itself) as the primary reason they did not have broadband service at home.
For others, location is a problem. In an earlier 2018 study, Pew Research found that nearly 60% of Americans living in rural areas say that access to high speed internet is a problem in their local community, compared to 43% of those in urban areas and 36% living in suburbs.
Certain people, primarily older adults, have other reasons not to adopt new technology. In a 2015 survey, Pew Research found that 48% of older agreed with the statement: “When I get a new electronic device, I usually need someone else to set it up or show me how to use it.”
Pew Research also suggested that the method for tracking adoption might need to change in the future because the internet has become almost as ubiquitous as electricity.