Google Consumer Surveys - [How familiar are you with bitcoins?]

[ratacat]

I wanted to test out Google Consumer Surveys and made a quick Bitcoin question. Figured I'd share it here with everyone and let you peruse it.

https://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/view?survey=2fnkr5aboge4a&question=1&filter=&rw=1

77.6% of people sampled have never even HEARD of bitcoins before.  [1905 reponses]

Is that surprising?

[Kluge]

At first, I was surprised so many'd heard of Bitcoin, but most responses in the affirmative have minimal familiarity with Bitcoin.

The income filter is fascinating. Seems like the middle-class are least familiar with BTC, while the ultra-poor and rich are both relatively familiar, though there aren't enough stats, yet. Other than that, most of the other stats are stereotypical for anything "tech" -- more men than women, more younger people, more in West than South.


ETA: Is the survey finished? It'd be interesting to see a larger sample size.

[nebulus]

Considering my bitcoin journey... The results of this poll are believable... You have got to be on the outskirt of the bell curve to even grasp the concept...

[ratacat]

Yes, it's finished.  A larger survey would cost significantly more.  It does seem that the upper/middle class has the strongest familiarity with them.

[BitChick]

I am not surprised.  In "surveying" the people I know, which all are middle class to upper middle class, only one had even heard of bitcoin.  None of them are really interested in investing.  One friend was thinking about buying just one but then got scared when the bubble burst so now she is not interested, even though it is an even better time to buy.  I think all of us here on the forums are unaware of how early we are in this.  

[ratacat]

I have to agree with you Bitchick, for us it really seems like EVERYONE is talking about bitcoin, but I think we are still quite a small number compared to how many people have absolutely no clue about it.

[BitChick]

I have to agree with you Bitchick, for us it really seems like EVERYONE is talking about bitcoin, but I think we are still quite a small number compared to how many people have absolutely no clue about it.

I looked on Facebook to see how many likes there were for Bitcoin on there too and the top group was Facebook Users Org with 244,777.  Also, there are only a handful of groups for Bitcoin.  It really is not mainstream at all when you look at that.

I think it should make our jaws drop that we are at around $115 or so with so few people even knowing about it!  If it becomes mainstream I think we will be blown away at how fast it can grow.  We will see though. There are so many hurdles to overcome still, and it is not really friendly for the average person to even be able to purchase them.  That is the biggest problem I see that needs to be overcome before it becomes more widely used by the masses.

[Rob768]

This survey in itself was a good way to promote Bitcoin.  Those 77% likely did a google search for Bitcoin.  Having said this, I agree that the whole system needs to become more user friendly, whether by means of third party exchanges/markets or bitcoin itself,.  Until then it will be hard to see things go mainstream in my opinion

[Korbman]

77.6% of people sampled have never even HEARD of bitcoins before.  [1905 reponses]

Is that surprising?

I actually expected that number to be substantially higher.

Sure, there's a number of people within my typical group of friends and associates that knows of Bitcoin...however if I jump down south a bit, I don't expect the folks there to know how many planets are in the solar system, let alone what a growing cryptocurrency is.

[Nagan]

Bitcoin's still too complicated for average Joe. My non-tech friends know about, but see no utility. Same as Internet in its early days.

Strangely enough most people say like: "Ohh, Bitcoin, is it that thing that crashed and burned last month?". My friend was horrified when I told him that I invested in Bitcoin - he felt sorry for me. Never mind that's still 10x profit after the correction