Posted on 12/29/2004 9:39:18 PM PST by freespirited
The average Internet user in the United States spends three hours a day online, with much of that time devoted to work and more than half of it to communications, according to a survey conducted by a group of political scientists.
The survey found that use of the Internet has displaced television watching and a range of other activities. Internet users watch television for one hour and 42 minutes a day, compared with the national average of two hours, said Norman H. Nie, director of the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, a research group that has been exploring the social consequences of the Internet.
"People don't understand that time is hydraulic," he said, meaning that time spent on the Internet is time taken away from other activities.
A 2000 study by the researchers that reported increasing physical isolation among Internet users created a controversy and drew angry complaints from some users who insisted that time they spent online did not detract from their social relationships.
However, the researchers said they had now gathered further evidence showing that in addition to its impact on television viewing, Internet use has lowered the amount of time people spend socializing with friends and even sleeping.
According to the study, an hour of time spent using the Internet reduces face-to-face contact with friends, co-workers and family by 23.5 minutes, lowers the amount of time spent watching television by 10 minutes and shortens sleep by 8.5 minutes.
The researchers acknowledged that the study data did not answer questions about whether Internet use itself strengthened or weakened social relations with one's friends and family.
"It's a bit of a two-edged sword," Mr. Nie said. "You can't get a hug or a kiss or a smile over the Internet." Many people are still more inclined to use the telephone for contact with family, he said.
The latest study also found that online game playing has become a major part of Internet use.
Over all, 57 percent of Internet use was devoted to communications like e-mail, instant messaging and chat rooms, and 43 percent for other activities including Web browsing, shopping and game playing. Users reported that they spent 8.7 percent of their Internet time playing online games.
The study also found that although the Internet is widely employed for communications, users spend little of their online time in contact with family members.
Of the time devoted to communication, just a sixth was spent staying in touch with family members, significantly less than the time spent on work-related communications and contact with friends.
The study found that as much as 75 percent of the population in the United States now has access to the Internet either at home or work.
"It is remarkable that this expansion of use has happened in just a decade since the invention of the Web browser," Mr. Nie said. That rate of growth is almost as fast as the spread of the telephone, and is impressive because the computer is more complicated to use, he said.
The study, titled "What Do Americans Do on the Internet?" also found that junk e-mail and computer maintenance take up a significant amount of the time spent online each day.
Respondents reported spending 14 minutes daily dealing with computer problems. That would suggest that Internet users spend a total of 10 workdays each year dealing with such problems.
The study, the latest in an annual series, was based on a survey of 4,839 people between the ages of 18 and 64 who were randomly selected. Respondents were asked to create detailed diaries of how they spent their time during six randomly selected hours of the previous day.
Data collection was performed by Knowledge Networks, a survey research firm based in Menlo Park, Calif. The researchers plan to release the study on Monday on their Web site, www.stanford.edu/group/siqss.
Thirty-one percent of the survey sample reported using the Internet on the day before they were surveyed. Researchers classified this group as Internet users.
The researchers found that the amount of Internet use does not differ by gender. But women on average use e-mail, instant messaging and social networking more than men, while men spend more time browsing, reading discussion groups and participating in chat rooms.
Younger people in the sample tended to favor immediate forms of online communication, while older people used e-mail more frequently.
>Less TV. It's a sign of the decline of civilization<
LOL, or its rebirth! It's the decline of my quilting, that's for sure. I certainly don't miss the TV one bit.
It rarely gets turned on at all at my house, except to play a dvd or tape. I get all my news from the internet, or
talk radio. For years I said "never", and see what has happened!
Yeah I notice that about Discovery Channel well they have thing on Ramses that was pretty cool I hear they going do world premire documentary on Pomperi that been advertsing alot on Discovery
Yeah you are right even History Channel run out of topic they have new show like Conspiracy
I wish they bring back Command decisiion
So nobody reported looking at p0rn? (After all, for some people, that IS the internet. And nothing about file swapping either!)
Makes me wonder why I bothered to read this article. Although, I wouldn't complain if internet p0rn just disappeared for lack of demand, but I'm not disposed to believe that it has done so without proof.
The "elephant in the room" strikes again.
I hearing about tidal wave disaster on FR Before CNN carry it or MSNBC not only network I notice carry coverage on Saturday night in my time zone was Fox news with little help from its Brit cousin SKY news
If you want breaking news come here
We report lurkers decided LOL!
Lets not forget all the spinoffs of shows like Law & Order and CSI. Shaky cam is running wild. And there is no shortage of reality shows. No wonder viewership is down.
Yup. I first heard about the tsunami on the FR thread, when it happened. First heard about 9/11 here. The space shuttle disaster. The nightclub fire/disaster. FR IS breaking news!
Oh jeez, not another one of these liberal media types spouting about how the internet is for geeks and losers and other asocial people.
Yes! So I'm not the only one who has noticed the increased use of the SHAKY CAM technique! They even use it on HGTV to make otherwise boring programming seem pseudo-exciting.
The internet took me away from the TV somewhat, but the increased use of jerky camera techniques on TV and in films ("Blair Witch Project") have literally made me nauseous.
Not entirely false -- it's better in the flesh -- but not entirely true.
OTOH Some viruses are easier to uninstall then others
;)
Ok watch the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci Fi this weekend, that's a lot like being on the internet.
-PJ
Better than TV if you ask me. And if you want news days ahead of the regular media, FR is the place.
Then they're not doing it right. :-)
Waving hand, saying hello!
I irritate the hell out of my mother every morning, reading over her shoulder and correcting the headlines in the paper! They're always a day behind, it seems to be. I end up saying, "Well, the last thing I read last night said 80,000 were dead."
(She thinks I'm a genuis.......LOL)
LOL
Oh yeah?
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