Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh.
Mere Piaaray Sadh Sangat,
At the end of March and the beginning of April, SikhNet sent out a request to our audience to complete an in-depth survey. The purpose of the survey was for us to better understand who comes to the SikhNet website, and what their needs are, so we can serve you better in the years ahead.
We were truly amazed by the response we received. The survey had 96 questions, which took 20-30 minutes to complete on average. Yet over 1,800 people from around the world participated – from children under 12 to seniors over 75. We never imagined that we would receive such a response, and we thank all of you who participated.
It will take months to thoroughly sort through all the data. However, we wanted to share some of the initial results with you. Later in 2014, SikhNet will release a much more comprehensive report of the survey.
There were many places in the survey for people to fill in their own comments, asking for what they wanted. We received over 2,300 individual comments from all of you. I, personally, have read each and every comment and am creating summary statements of your comments so that others at SikhNet and within the Sikh community can hear your voice.
What we discovered by reading the comments is that you told us about the needs of the global Sikh community. You did not just talk to us as a “website.” You spoke from your heart about what you see going on in your community, and what the deepest concerns of the Sangat are. I was in tears several times reading through the comments, touched by what you had to say.
Later this year, SikhNet will begin a major re-invention of our website. The answers provided by you will be the foundation of how we re-invent the site, how we allocate resources, and what types of content we create and highlight in the future.
It may take years to implement everything you have asked for. Yet, we are your humble servants. As we begin to roll out the website reinvention in 2015, you will see your requests reflected in SikhNet’s transformation.
For those who are interested, here is a summary of some initial data about who you are, as a SikhNet audience.
Thanks to those of your who participated in our survey.
With Divine Light,
Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa
Program Director, SikhNet.com
Who is the SikhNet Audience?
Currently, the SikhNet audience is truly international. The majority of you live in the United States, India, the United Kingdom, and Canada. However, there are Sikhs spread throughout the world – from China to the United Arab Emirates, from Singapore to Russia, from Europe all the way to Latin America. We are a global community.
In What Country Do You Currently Reside?
The SikhNet online community is about 65% male, and 35% female. However, those numbers change from country to country – with India having close to an 80/20 split (male/female), and the Western countries having closer to a 60/40 split (male/female).
What Is Your Gender?
The SikhNet community spans all ages, with the majority of members being between ages 25-54. Over 60% of you are married, and 29% are still single.
What Is Your Age?
The SikhNet community cares about education. Close to 70% of you have a Bachelor’s degree from college, or higher.
What is the highest level of education you have completed?
While you speak and read English fluently, your mother tongue is mainly Punjabi, with a significant subset having English as your mother tongue. However, the community also has a smattering of other mother tongues – from Spanish to Urdu to everything in between.
What is Your Primary Language?
The SikhNet community has deep roots, with the majority of you tracing your Sikh ancestry back 5, 10, 15 generations or more. However, over 10% of you are first generation Sikhs.
How Many Generations Have Your Family Lived As Sikhs?
The SikhNet community is also a devoted community. 69% of the men, and 17% of the women regularly wear turbans. An additional 10% of the men, and 9% of women sometimes wear turbans.
When asked how regularly you practice your Sikh faith, over 67% of you responded by saying you practice daily, or actively practice.
How often do you practice your religion, as a Sikh?
When asked what new services you would like from SikhNet, Spiritual Learning was your number one response.
We also saw this reflected in the comments. You want to learn Gurbani, to understand the Guru. You want practical conversations about how to take the Guru’s teachings and apply them to the challenges of the modern world.
You want to learn more about your history. You want to explore your Sikh identity. You want your children to be inspired. And you would like to see content in Punjabi and also (from the Sikh contingent in Latin America) in Spanish.
These are just a few of the conclusion we saw from reading all of the comments you gave us.
Are you interested in SikhNet producing articles and videos on the following subjects?
In terms of our current services, the services you use the most are the Daily Hukamnama from Sri Harimandir Sahib, followed by the SikhNet News - with the Gurbani Media Center and the SikhNet Radio closely following. However, the ranking of SikhNet services varies from country to country, and from demographic to demographic.
Overall the top four services are: the Daily Hukamnama, the SikhNet News, the Gurbani Media Center and SikhNet Radio. Our second tier of most popular services are: the Inspirations Videos, SikhiWiki, the Online Siri Guru Granth Sahib and the Children’s Audio Stories.
What SikhNet services have you used in the past 12 months?
There is much more data from the survey, and it tells an ever deeper story. However, these are some of the highlights that the SikhNet team is grateful to share with you today. As I said earlier, later in the year, we plan to publish an in-depth report which gives an analysis of the different segments of the community, along with a distillation of the over 2,300 comments we received.
Thank you so much for the time you took to complete this survey. It shows how much you care about SikhNet and want to participate as part of our global SikhNet family. This is your website, and your voice will guide our future. We are grateful to see you in this much more personal way, and we hope this information inspires you to see yourself as part of our global sangat, with other Sikhs around the world who care about the same issues as you.
