Top > Webmaster > 2006 > December > 2006-12-04

New Study Into People`s Web Habits

The University of Southern California has conducted a new study that shows 21 percent of adult internet users think that kids are spending too much time on the net. This number represents a drastic change in thinking compared with the number of people that though the same thing back in 2001, 11 percent. Although the number seems pretty high, it doesn`t compare with the 49 percent of all parents that believe their children is spending too much time in front of the TV.

Another interesting detail is that 80 percent of the children claim that the internet is important for their schoolwork, while 75 of the parents say that there has been no change in their children`s grades since they have been using the web. The massive change in surfing habits comes as a direct result of the introduction of broader connection and cheaper deals. 48 percent of the people that use the internet do so through a high broadband connection. Not only that, but people are accessing the net using their mobile devices as well ? an option that did not exist no too long ago.

The study also showed that people using the web are spending less time reading. The internet is, at its core, a textual medium and people are regarding their time online as `reading`. The surprising thing is that the study shows that people are not spending less time watching TV compared with previous years. 33 percent of the people said the internet takes away their TV time, and that resembles the 2001 results as well.