Report 1 in 10 Americans think HTML is an STD, study finds

[tom_mai78101]

If you're talking tech with Americans, you may want to avoid using any jargon.
A recent study found that many Americans are lost when it comes to tech-related terms, with 11% saying that they thought HTML — a language that is used to create websites — was a sexually transmitted disease.

The study was conducted by Vouchercloud.net, a coupons website, as a way to determine how knowledgeable users are when it comes to tech terms.

"Technology is a huge interest for our user base, and month after month we see thousands of people visiting our site to look for coupons and deals to use when purchasing their favorite tech products," a company spokeswoman said in a statement. "It seems that quite a few of us need to brush up on our tech definitions."

Besides HTML, there were some other amusing findings

Read more here.

 

[Carnerox]

That's bogus! I knew a buddy who had HTML!

 

[Ghan]

I'm not terribly outraged by this. I think there are definitely a ton of basic facts about the world that it's kind of insane if you don't know them, but this isn't one. Most people have no need to know what HTML is, especially in a world where all you need to do is execute one Google search and you can find out more than you would ever want to know about HTML in an instant. Information is just so readily accessible that in many cases like this, I don't think of it as a big deal.
This is different than something like not knowing who is your country's president or vice president (I'm looking at you, many fellow Americans). That kind of thing just shows a blatant disregard for knowledge about your own country, which is to me very disappointing. It's different.

 

[FireCat]

But seriously, Not everyone are "programmers or developers"!?
But if you were, then I would be concerned.. LOL

 

[Slapshot136]

I think more concerning is that people thought it was a STD instead of saying "I don't know" - it shows we have a "know-it-all" attitude problem, which is a bigger issue than the actual knowledge like Ghan said

 

[KMilz]

I think more concerning is that people thought it was a STD instead of saying "I don't know" - it shows we have a "know-it-all" attitude problem[.]

Since "I don't know" wasn't one of the three options they had to choose from in this multiple-choice questionnaire, your comment is... wrong. Except the part I left out which still holds true.

 

[Slapshot136]

Since "I don't know" wasn't one of the three options they had to choose from in this multiple-choice questionnaire, your comment is... wrong.

then I would go with the questionnaire is wrong (or it's way of phrasing the results indicating that 10% believe that to be true)

 

[tom_mai78101]

Possible speculation:

The "know-it-all" attitude is probably what comes down to "bullying", "bragging rights", and "trying hard to be alpha, to impress girls".