[LINK] Every man is an island with the Net

[Stewart Fist]

Bernard Reported on Nie's Stanford University findings that:

> * The more years people have spent online, the more hours they spend on the
> Net. 

They are suggesting that it becomes addictive, but it could just be that the
early adopters of the Internet had more needs or applications than later
users.  I believe this is probably a better explanation than the addictive
suggestion. 

> * A quarter of regular Net users claim it has reduced their time with
> friends and family, or attending events outside the home. 

Well, of course they would.  Eating breakfast reduces the time I spend
attending outside events, also.  About a quarter of regular Net users,
probably use the Internet from home as part of their work. 

> * A quarter of regular users say the Net has increased the time they spend
> working from home, without cutting back at the office. 

Of course they would.  Have you ever heard anyone admit that they do less work
nowadays than they did in the past.  A quarter of Net users would be ambitious
people trying to get ahead by using the Net.  In the past, they would have
been brown-nosing the boss by staying back late at work.

> * 60 per cent of people say the Net has reduced their TV. 

I would say that the poor quality of television, has increased my use of the Net.

> * 30 per cent say they spend less time reading newspapers.

But they could be making up for it by reading more on-line.  I have reduced my
purchase of newspapers in the last few years because I find I can go on-line
and read items of interest from a dozen newspapers around the world.  I also
regularly watch items on the BBC-TV news from Sydney.

There was another story in the papers the same week pointing out that Internet
users were no longer geek types, but normal people with normal families, doing
normal things.
I think it came from a Forrester Group survey.

-- 
Stewart Fist - writer and columnist
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