[opendtv] News: Internet Use Said to Cut Into TV Viewing and Socializing
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:01:44 -0500
Internet Use Said to Cut Into TV Viewing and Socializing
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: December 30, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 29 - 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.
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