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Americans Using Internet 'Just for Fun' 158

Posted by Zonk from the i-live-here-so-i-wouldn't-know dept.
Ant writes "CNET News.com reports that nearly one-third of American Internet users go online just for fun." From the article: "A survey of 1,931 Internet users conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project in late November and December 2005 found 30 percent of respondents said they went online "for no particular reason" on the previous day. That was up from 21 percent in a November 2004 survey. The survey also showed that 34 percent of online men were surfing for fun on an average day in December, compared with 26 percent of women."
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Americans Using Internet 'Just for Fun' More

Americans Using Internet 'Just for Fun'

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  • Look on the bright side (Score:5, Funny)

    by suso ( 153703 ) * on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:37PM (#14733812) Journal
    That means that 2/3s are actually using it for actual work.

  • Poor saps (Score:4, Funny)

    by typical ( 886006 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:38PM (#14733820) Journal
    From the article: "A survey of 1,931 Internet users conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project in late November and December 2005 found 30 percent of respondents said they went online "for no particular reason" on the previous day. That was up from 21 percent in a November 2004 survey.

    Poor saps.

    I Slashdot with well-defined and concrete goals in mind.
    • What, did a web server kill your parents when you were a kid?
    • I Slashdot with well-defined and concrete goals in mind.

      How can surfing /. be goal-oriented? You hoping for first post someday or something?

    • This must have been an internet survey... The numbers don't add up correctly.
      Why is it that 33.3% of all people surf the internet for fun
      34% of all Males surf the internet for fun
      26% of all Femalse surf the internet for fun
      52% of the population is females.

      If it was an average sampling, you would have (0.52 * 0.26) + (0.48 * 34) = 29.84%
      I bet the survey was taken online, where statistically more men are online to begin with.
      (Gotta admit that's a bit ironic)

  • "Fun" (Score:3, Funny)

    by jahudabudy ( 714731 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:38PM (#14733821)
    The survey also showed that 34 percent of online men were surfing for fun on an average day in December

    Well, I guess looking at porn is fun...

  • spelling mistake (Score:5, Funny)

    by parseexception ( 516727 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:39PM (#14733828) Homepage
    "for no particular reason"
    I thought it was spelled pr0n
  • Seeing how much porn is on the Internet, and assuming Internet porn addicts have fun with it, I am suprized to hear that only 33% of the US surfers use the internet for fun
    • "Seeing how much porn is on the Internet, and assuming Internet porn addicts have fun with it, I am suprized to hear that only 33% of the US surfers use the internet for fun"

      They probably need to take into account both types of masturbation: physical, and mental.

  • December representative of the rest of the year? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:39PM (#14733833)

    December seems like the month that has the most goofing off in it in general, in the lead up to Christmas. I wonder if they'd get the same numbers if they ran the survey this month.

  • surprised the numbers are so low (Score:3, Funny)

    by JeanBaptiste ( 537955 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:41PM (#14733851)
    This would describe about 30 hours out of my 40 hour work week.

  • fun? (Score:3, Funny)

    by solidtransient ( 883338 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:41PM (#14733854) Homepage
    I wouldn't call the hours and hours I've wasted at stupidvideos.com fun. Well, I guess I would.

  • The Internet is for Fun^H^H^HPorn! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bogon ( 41081 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:42PM (#14733861)

    As the fine folks of AvenueQ [avenueq.com] would say... "just grab your d*ck and double-click!" :)

    http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/internet4por n [albinoblacksheep.com]

  • Inaccurate Figures (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What they mean is 1/3 of 0.0004% of American's use the internet "just for fun".
    • Ah yes. I know it seems impossible, especially for those who've failed statistics & probabilies classes, to make target populational inferences from a survey population. But it is quite possible and quite common.

      Using well-established statistics and probability, it is mathematically safe to say that within some given margin of error--three percent is common--that if you asked every single Anerican the same question, their responses would match the surveyed population.

      Note that this populational respon
    • What really kills me more than anything is the analysis in articles like this. Everyday it's always something new with X percent of people doing this versus Y percent of people doing that, with a forecast of gloom and doom on those numbers. I wish someone would just compile ALL the statistical facts in one place, define what they are, update as necessary and finally, let everybody come to their OWN conclusion. Who cares what some so-called expert (but really, they're mostly non-experts) believes what tho

  • There's nothing fun... (Score:5, Funny)

    by brian0918 ( 638904 ) <brian0918@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:45PM (#14733896)
    ...about getting your ass handed to you by a bunch of 12 year old script kiddies in Counter-Strike.....

  • Ask Your ISP (Score:3, Interesting)

    by John Hasler ( 414242 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:47PM (#14733909) Homepage
    > "one-third of American Internet users go online just for fun."

    According to my ISP (CenturyTel) the Internet exists solely for "entertainment and education".
  • That entire 1/3.

  • Disgusting! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) *
    nearly one-third of American Internet users go online just for fun.

    The internet once was the domain of us old-school geeks. Now everybody and anybody is on and driving it to ruin.

    One only need look at all the trolling which has infested USENET newsgroups.

    It's time to create a new net for geeks only.

    • Mmm, today is Sep 4552, 1993.

    • Re:Disgusting! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by saltydogdesign ( 811417 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @02:12PM (#14734823)
      When I was a boy, I had to walk 18 miles, uphill, in the snow, with no shoes on, just to get to Yahoo.com. And back then, it only had 4 links.

    • Re:Disgusting! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by chroot_james ( 833654 )
      shut up.
  • Considering the adult population has grown up not needing (or having) the internet for anything for a sizable chunk of their lives, it's no surprise that a significant percentage wouldn't be using it for things at home they have done without the internet for decades.

  • Misspelling.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by wolfemi1 ( 765089 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:53PM (#14733975)
    ...one-third of American Internet users go online just for fun.

    I think they misspelled "Pr0n".

  • 2000 users. More than this number of internet users can be found at any average sized University...

    If the "survey" is made at a uni, maybe there will be a 100% of "using internet to study"...

    Also if you go to a nurcery school, maybe there will be more than 60% of female surfers...

    This surevy really says nothing at all..

  • for the articles (Score:5, Funny)

    by fugu ( 99277 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @12:56PM (#14734016)
    I'm just reading it for the articles...

  • Not the same (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sehryan ( 412731 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @01:00PM (#14734061)
    I wouldn't consider "just for fun" the same as "no particular reason." In fact, the latter, which was the true response, could indicate that those people go online because they feel compelled to, sort of like an addiction.
  • How much did THAT survey cost?

    Geesh that was money well spent!
  • A new study had found that 27% of studies reach obvious and/or useless conclusions. Researchers at the Duh Institute surveyed 7 people and asked them their opinion of a couple of selected studies including reports that:

    1. People who are taking antidepressants tend to be depressed.
    2. Cows emit a lot of methane.
    and
    3. 30% of Internet users go online just for fun.

    Four of those surveyed were too depressed to respond, one told the researcher to sit down and finish his supper and two said "Not now, I'm updating m
    • A new study had found that 27% of studies reach obvious and/or useless conclusions.

      A previous study [slashdot.org] found that more than 50% of studies are contradicted by other studies. From the wording, it would seem clear that these two sets are disjoint (useless or obvious research doesn't need to be repeated. At least not once you have tenure). That means that less than a quarter of studies are worth a damn.

      That seems about right.

  • 24/7 connectivity .... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @01:04PM (#14734108) Homepage
    I'm sure mnost of us are almost always within a few feet of an internet connection.

    When I'm at work, or at home, I've got machines with 24/7 internet connectivity. I use the internet to check my mail, the weather, any news updates, settle disputes, find out things, look around to kill time, verify syntax of command, read movie reviews, and practically every thing else.

    Sometimes I'll go over to my home machines, and just check about a half a dozen tabs in Mozilla which are always up just to see if anything new happened since the last time.

    For many of us, the internet has become ubiquitous, and just sort of always there. It's hard to nail down any one specific reason why I'm connected. It's just there all of the time.
    • I use my windows to check the weather.....

      I'm a bad geek ::sob::

    • Sometimes I'll go over to my home machines, and just check about a half a dozen tabs in Mozilla which are always up just to see if anything new happened since the last time.

      You may want to look into RSS. It's made for this kind of thing.
      • You may want to look into RSS. It's made for this kind of thing.

        Yeah, but I don't like to consilodate my lack of a life into a single bundle.

        I prefer to spread it out across several things, so I at least get to kill the few minutes clicking on each one. This provides me with the illusion that things could be happening, instead on succinct NO up front. =)
        • I completely understand that. That's my one complaint about RSS is that instead of being able to waste a few minutes checking /. or whatever at work, I'm always up to date, so I have to actually be productive instead of spending a few mintues finding out there are no new stories.
  • I don't go online to have fun, I go online to play Everquest!
  • From Dec 1 to Dec 23 is spent surfing web sites trying to figure out what I'd like for Xmas. Dec 24 is spent figuring out what I should get other people. Dec 25 is a break from web surfing to play all the video games received that day. And Dec 26 to Dec 31 is spent surfing web sites trying to figure out with the money and gift vouchers received on Dec 25.

  • No reason at all (Score:3, Funny)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @01:07PM (#14734147) Homepage
    Well, I went online today for "no particular reason", and just happened to stuble across this article in my RSS reader. I wasnt out LOOKING for articles on how people waste time on the internet.....

    (on a side note, i'm sure that those 66% that DID have a reason, that reason would be pr0n... oh wait, why the hell am I still on slashdot?)
  • I still have trouble understanding why too much fun is bad. It's the child in me that hasn't let go of the idea.
  • "30 percent of respondents said they went online "for no particular reason" on the previous day"

    This survey found what people claimed they went online for. How many were actually going online to look for something (discussion with people, interesting articles, etc.) but weren't aware of this? Don't make the mistake of taking survey results as anything beyond "this is what people responded with when asked these questions".
  • I was using the net "for fun" back in 1994.

    if the rest of you don't either stop, or pay up, I will be required to demand that you stop.

    and for those that were using it before 94. my later usage wins anyway, deal with it.
  • After viewing this article ... I felt it was skewed ...
    I believe that a large number of users don't understand that
    you have to be ON THE INTERNET to CHECK YOUR EMAIL
    so ... when you ask them why they're on the internet, they
    aren't going to respond ... "to check my email" ... they're
    going to respond ... "to play games, chat, etc."

    Just my opinion.

  • Means To an End (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AeroIllini ( 726211 ) <aeroillini@NOSpam.gmail.com> on Thursday February 16, 2006 @01:48PM (#14734559)
    Of course people are going online just for fun. The internet is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. It's just a medium.

    Why do you read books? Is it purely for research purposes, or are you just having fun?

    Why do you go to the mall? Are you there strictly for purchasing things, or are you also there to have fun?

    What the national media has not seemed to grasp yet is that the Internet is not some spooky alternate reality with a different set of rules than the real world (for most people). It's just a way of moving information back and forth and communicating. Yes, it's the first medium to combine those two purposes. But people don't use the Internet just to use the Internet... they're just doing something that happens to be on the Internet. Asking why people go online is about as insightful as asking why people wake up in the morning.

    Why do you wake up in the morning? Is your life just to work and make money to provide for yourself and your family, or do you also like to have some fun?

    It's just a means to do other things, people. Some of us do work on it, some of use play on it, and most people do both.
  • [i]respondents said they went online "for no particular reason"[/i]

    That's why [i]I'm[/i] here.
  • More and more I find that I have exhausted the Internet. I find nothing more of interest of that I want to do, and mindless browsing gets old. Back to the TV...
  • Wow. And in related news, there are people who watch TV for fun, too. Who would've guessed?
  • s/fun/porn/

  • "no particular reason" != "fun" (Score:3, Insightful)

    by syukton ( 256348 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @02:01PM (#14734708)
    Fun would be a particular reason to go online. Saying that one has no particular reason for going online is saying that one may have more than one reason for doing so, not necessarily just "fun."
  • So much for all the Slashdotters who solemnly proclaim, "I want the Internet to supply me with *information,* not gaudy Flash cartoons." I've said it before and I'll say it again -- broad though the Slashdot userbase is, there are other people with other concerns.

    One nitpick: who "goes" online anymore? Hey everybody, let's go online!

  • As an American (Score:4, Funny)

    by starX ( 306011 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @02:02PM (#14734723) Homepage
    I am proud to say that 1/3 of us surf as 9/10 of us live. Used to be, back in the day, that only the more athletic, outgoing types got to have fun, but thanks to the miracles of technology, the pocket-protector and taped glasses set gets to fritter away our lives idly as well. Ah the miracles of technology....

    I myself dream of the day when all the people of the world can sit at home in a dark room, untouched by soap or natural light, listlessly reloading slashdot and the onion, and googling in the hopes that they'll find something new and interesting. It is this persistant optimism that there is a better way to be lazy that is at the very heart of American culture, and this is the greatest gift we have to give the world.

  • The other 70%... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Firehed ( 942385 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @02:06PM (#14734761) Homepage
    ... considered looking at pr0n to be a meaningful activity, rather than "fun" or "no particular reason".

  • Interesting... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Ctawp ( 813135 )
    I didn't realize WoW subscriptions were quite that high yet. Impressive. =)
  • Assuming this survey was online, it's flawed.

    How many of us take the time to actually fill out internet surveys? Of those, I'd say a high percentage of them are the type to only use the net "for fun." ;)

    Personally, I hate being pigeonholed by marketers.
  • A new survey reports that nearly 100% of Slashdot readers read it just for fun. From the article: "A survey of 1 Internet user conducted by [...] in late December 2005 found 100 percent of respondents said they went to Slashdot "for no particular reason" on the previous day. That was up from 0 percent in a November 2004 survey. The survey also showed that 100 percent of Slashdot men were commenting for fun on an average day in 2005."

  • Porn! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Frazbin ( 919306 )
    Hahaha! Porn pornity porn porn porn! The joke here is that the internet has porn on it! Haha! I made a funny. Excuse me a moment while I go change my pants.

    Please, people!

    At any rate, it's another one of those surveys that attempts to rigorously show what we all already know. People use the internet as a medium for social interaction. Whoopee.

    I'm a little worried, though, that computer users answered "fun" because they had no idea what they were doing on the internet. That's probably unfounded, thou
  • This just in; There is STILL no cure for cancer. According to elaborate and expensive research on the chances of the cure being found any time soon, there won't be one for quite a while.
  • Americans also drink when they are thirsty and eat when they are hungry.

  • In a related study . . . (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mmell ( 832646 ) on Thursday February 16, 2006 @02:50PM (#14735201)
    10% of male internet users admit they use the internet primarily for pr0n . . .

    The other 90% are really teriffic liars.

  • fun == pr0n

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