Could you be a net champion?

11 Replies Christopher Roberts

Did you know around 9 million people in the UK have never used the internet?

That is why, this week the UK government announced that it has 100,000 people volunteering to be net champions.

What is a net champion?

A net champion is someone who helps someone else get online.

Who are the current net champions?

Many of the current volunteers are Scouts, Post Office workers and librarians.

Scouts 'be prepared' logoWhy try to help people get online

People in low income households save around £270 per year, just from being online. These savings may come via using tools like Skype, having the ability to shop around more, or by switching to better deals online.

The thing is many people, especially the elderly don’t realise this. Therefore helping and educating them should increase their ability to save money, and will hopefully also enrich their lives via using things like social media.

What if you don’t have a computer?

Some firms, including Microsoft have made available a range of cheap computers. These  low-priced ‘recycled’ PCs will be available from about £95.

The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron has backed the campaign. From what I have heard and read about it, it seems like a good idea to me too. What do you think, should we encourage more people onto the net, especially the elderly, or would they make the net a more dangerous place?

Would you consider volunteering?

A range of cheap computers is being made available to further entice them.The low-price recycled PCs will be available from Microsoft, among others, for about £95. 

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Written by Christopher Roberts
Founder and editor of Technology Bloggers, Christopher is passionate about sustainable technology and environmental initiatives. He wants to popularise critical thinking, promote responsible innovation, and excite you about the world around us.

11 thoughts on “Could you be a net champion?”

  2. Tammi @ Buy Quinoa

    This is a wonderful idea. I keep trying to encourage my mother and her friends to use the internet for more than just email.

    A couple of months ago, I saved a woman nearly a hundred dollars on a plane ticket by going to the discount ticket site on her behalf. She kept clicking an ad on her home page for the site, but I went straight to the site without the ad cookie, and I got a much better rate.

    More recently, the handle on a retired friend’s refrigerator door broke. He was resigned to using his refrigerator without a handle, or perhaps he would have jerry-rigged a solution, but I think it most likely that the refrigerator would have been replaced within the year. Instead, I went online and had a new handle delivered for less than $30.

    I think the net champion initiative is a great idea. I wonder if we have something like that here in the US.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Tammi you are 100% living evidence to back up this project. We can help people improve their standard of living with the internet, and it seems like you have!

      It would be good if other countries follow suit. It is is successful, maybe they will 🙂

      Reply
  3. Barbara

    Hi Christopher,
    This is a wonderful idea.
    My mother is slowly going blind (macula degeneration) and cannot read a normal newspaper or big print book anymore, I am going to buy her a kindle so she will be able to enjoy reading again. When she went to her optician and a special center for blind they both recommended a reading aide costing $ 3’500, a top notch kindle can be had at about $ 200.
    So, what do you say? Apart from me being a really nice daughter I think it is desgusting that people are not better informed, or care enough to look further. Ah, by the way, the government will subsidize such reading aids, there goes our tax money!

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      I feel very sorry for your mother Barbara, and I would agree that we really need to help others get online!

      Reply
  4. Josh

    I’m living in a different place so I’m not really sure if I could help the campaign. Yet, I appreciate the idea of helping others. In my own little way, I’m already helping other people since then… And the feeling is absolutely amazing, fulfilling! I believe that you’re feeling the same thing while you’re pursuing this campaign.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      “I’m already helping other people since then… And the feeling is absolutely amazing, fulfilling!” – Sounds like what Tammi said!

      You really can feel good helping others can’t you!

      “I believe that you’re feeling the same thing while you’re pursuing this campaign.” – I’m not part of it, just a reporter on it, although I would consider joining the campaign…

      Reply
  5. Anna

    Hi,
    I think we should encourage ALL people go online as it so convenient and much easier when you learn how to do it. My mum was opposed to it but when she got a chance to talk to her sister who lives in another country for free, she very quickly changed her mind. And when she found her first love on the friends reunion – that was something!
    And I wouldn’t be afraid they would spoil something or endanger the web – no, they are still pioneers online!

    Reply
  6. Jarrod Frenzel@The Woodlands homes for sale

    It’s good to see that there are people who wholeheartedly volunteer to be net champions. The Internet has become a basic human right for all of us and not educating people about it is just like taking away this right from them. They always have a freedom to choose if whether or not they are going to adapt the Internet as part of their lives. It’s just appropriate that they are introduced to this right that many of us are already exercising.

    Reply

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