Tech confusion rules online Brits

Confusion is still rife among UK consumers when it comes to technology and its terminology, according to research. And just because a term is familiar to the average Joe, doesn't mean he or she actually understands the tech it refers to.

Acronyms - such as RSS or PVR (personal video recorder) - are especially likely to cause mass head-scratching among the online fraternity of the British public. While, for all the media hype around blogging, only slightly more than half (53 per cent) of those surveyed know what it is. Even the ubiquitous iPod retains an air of mystery to one in seven online Brits - who have heard of it but don't know what it is, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, which conducted the research.

People tend to overplay the level of understanding that consumers have. They're being bombarded with new technology and it's very difficult to keep up.

-- Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst, Nielsen/NetRatings

UK consumers are also struggling with the pace of online and digital technology: 50 per cent of Brits surveyed said they can't keep up with it.

According to the research, the majority of online Brits don't know a bevy of tech terms - from wikis to web 2.0, IM to IPTV, which begs the question what are they doing with their time online?

Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings said web 2.0-style websites such as MySpace and YouTube still reach a relatively small slice of internet users - with more traditional "search and portal behaviour" accounting for a lot of time spent online.

Burmaster told silicon.com the explosion of jargon associated with new techs - such as video-on-demand, podcasting and vlogging (video blogging) - means consumers are being overloaded. "People tend to overplay the level of understanding that consumers have," he said. "They're being bombarded with new technology and it's very difficult to keep up."

The acronym that is least well-known by wired Brits is VoD, or video-on-demand, which confused 75 per cent of those surveyed, followed by wikis (70 per cent) - and that despite the Wikipedia network of websites rocketing up the UK most-visited sites list this year, to 16th place. IPTV was next, baffling 69 per cent of respondents.

But all is not lost: just over half of Brits surveyed believe online and digital tech makes their life easier - despite the confusion it evidently creates.