Internet Users Are More Social Than Non-Users

FePe writes "The UCLA World Internet Project has concluded from a study that Internet users spend more time on social activites than non-users. Many other interesting facts can be seen on the page. For example, in the United States 73.1 percent of men use the Internet compared to 69 percent of woman." Also interesting is how net users watch less television than their offline counterparts. Update: 01/16 03:46 GMT by M : Yep, pretty much the same story as yesterday. To be fair, Cowboyneal did say it was news to him. :)

Of Course...

[SpiritualRemains]

Of course there's more men on the internet than women. There's more male oriented porn than female oriented porn out there.

SR.

Why is this a shock?

[BoldAC]

Like we come here for the articles?!?!

We all come here to socialize and share ideas.

Yes, even the trolls.

This is social.

Sure I go out with friends and family several times per week... but this is a form of socialization as well.

We all need a little geek "fix" every once in a while.

No shock here.

AC

Just a quick question

[Anonymous Coward]

If slashdot "subscribers" get to see the stuff before the fact, why not let them vote a story a dupe BEFORE it's posted to the site?

I mean, it could just be a delay of 30 seconds for each vote until a certain threshold is reached, but christ! It's almost as bad as the trolls sometimes.

My .02

~ Eric

Despite being a dupe.

[fuzzbot77]

It is true... We have got so much more communication of course.. We can talk VoIP/IRC IM email to our hearts content. If anything computers / internet has made it cheaper to communicate with people we would not normaly communicate with. Only for the cost of ISP charges.. which usualy works out cheaper than dialing up some one on your home phone. Is this story a suprize. Not for those of us that are used to it.. Its the uneducated general public that have been misinformed that believe that computers cause you to be anti-social.. Well thats my 2 cents.. I am sure there will be people that dissagree

So what if it's a dupe?

[Fortunato_NC]

I mean besides boring others and fragmenting discussion, thus depriving some of potentially critical insights. Other than that, there is nothing wrong with dupes! And even better, it gives us a second chance for First Post!

But seriously - I think this study is one of those self fufilling prophecies - some geek whose friends told him he spends too much time online was like, "I'll show THEM!" Then he designs a protocol and a study, and lo and behold, but frequent Internet Users are actually MORE social!

Or, it could be that Internet Users (on average):

1. Have more income than non-users.
2. Have a better education than non-users.
3. Have more leisure time than non-users.

All of these things contribute seriously to "being social." After all, if you're technologically illiterate, you probably aren't working in a white collar job that's all about networking. You're probably slinging hash at a Waffle House, hoping the truckers don't spit at you tonight.

new type of socializing?

[LuxFX]

I agree with the study -- but you do have to consider chat rooms, discussion boards, etc. to be socializing. And I do think they are, but it's a new type of socializing.

I am an introvert. I'm happy to be an introvert. I hate going places with lots of people, and I tend to be the quiet one if I'm ever in a group of people. But I do a lot of discussion boards. The amazing thing is that online socializing does not mess with my introversion. I'm comfortable submitting comments to discussion boards where I wouldn't be comfortable speaking out at a get-together.

So maybe the stereotype is right AND the study's results are right. Maybe it is our definition of being social that is being put under the microscope.

More men on the net

[Felinoid]

Quite a few high school guidence counclers actually believe wemen can't make a successful carrer in technical fields and will actively discurage intrest in those fields.
When the guidence councilers ultimately desides what classes the students get to take that bies will effect the class attendence of the technical classes. Reasurence from the teachers that it's not a problem dose not help.

Equally famaly members will also discurage girls from getting involved in computers becouse "It's too complex".

This is less and less over time. Each generation has less interfearence as we learn just how important computers really are in the world today.

We can thank peoples addatudes twords wemen in the 1970s and 80's for the limited representation of wemen on the Internet today.