Slashdot Mirror
New Study on Americans' Expectations of the Net
radicalsubversiv writes "A new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project reports on Americans' expectations about finding information on the Internet. The (unsurprising) results reveal that large portions of the public go to the net first for many kinds of information. '16 percent of the nonusers say they would turn to the Internet first the next time they need health care and government information.' AP story summarizing the results; and the actual report in PDF format."
...while 100% of those Americans asked said they expect to find pr0n on the Internet, even when they're not looking for it.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
All kinds of stuff that perhaps 4 or 5 years ago, wouldn't have been available :
Phone numbers, cinema listings, used car adverts, buying just about anything you can imagine, weather forecast, reading the daily news (well, its more than daily - most sites are updating all the time), and keeping in regular contact with friends and family.
Yes, there are a lot of bad things about the internet, but there have been so many advances in recent years.. it has most definately become a tool that I could not do without!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
Going to the net for general news and commentary is a great use for the internet... far better than sitting on your couch, stuffing your face, passively taking in what Tom or Peter tells you is news.
On the other hand, I sometimes take care of ppl (I work in the healthcare field) who come to see me "armed" with info off the internet; some of it wildly inaccurate.
The internet can be a good place to look for healthcare info, provided you stick to the major sites. Hitting Joe Schmoe's Geocities page about how all the evil doctors tried to kill him treating his cancer... then he found this miracle herb/crystal treatment... Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!
I hate to be paternalistic and say "trust your doctor," but who else is going to help you sort the wheat from the chaff? For instance, take the PDR. Few physicians I know regularly use it; it's simply a list of drug-company inserts, where they list every possible side effect of every possible medicine. Blah... most people will not have side effects, and if they do, it'll be a common one. I've had people go online and bring in a PDR printout to support their contention that "this new drug is causing all my problems! See? All my symptoms are listed right here! Talk about an uphill battle to keep them on a good medication...
Mixed blessing to be sure, but access to information is important. I'd honestly say, that even in my field, the good of the net outweighs the bad.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
She has heard of this thing called the internet, but she doesn't appreciate it.
:)
She asked me what I did for work, so I explained. "But you're not making anything, not doing anything", she said.
I'm working with information, I told her.
But that's not real, she said.
If people don't understand the value of information, well. Mind you, if there was a nuclear war, we'd all forget about computers pretty quickly and start trying to grow enough food to survive, find un-contaminated water, and somewhere to stay safe until the nuclear winter was over.
What's my point? I don't know. Maybe I've been insightful. Maybe not. I'll tell my Mum I talked about her on Slashdot though - that'll confuse her...
Get your own free personal location tracker
A study released Sunday...?
I didn't realise Sunday was being held by study.
(Brits will get it.)
Mod away. There are more important things in life than karma. Hey, that makes a good sig...
Get your own free personal location tracker
Of course this requires a little more work on my part, actually picking through information and choosing what is good and what is crap, rather than having it spoon fed.
I actually laugh at what the AP wire and most newspapers call news. I pay little attention unless there is a "comments" link I can sift underneath. I often test a website by checking for and if neccessary posting a contrary comment, just to see if it sticks around. If the comment is harshly negative to the majority of comments already posted, but is not deleted, that website has validity, and I will be more apt to trust it.
You can scare yourself shitless searching for health care information on the Internet. The Onion have run a few stories on this.
Apparently, it's also a pain in the ass for doctors, because patients walk into their surgery having diagnosed themselves on Google and demand a particular treatment.
No need to teach granny to suck eggs, but as someone said above; it's on the Internet - so it has to be true.
Health Care info on the Internet is mostly bad news, because it is almost impossible to distinguish sound peer reviewed medical services from Dr. Nick Riviera's "I'll do any operation $199.99".
If you feel ill or find a lump anywhere, go see a real doctor.
This is a very funny piece of investigative journalism people.
Americans annoyed by "all this international shit" on the internet
This is the article that I thing the original poster meant to link to.
The amazing thing is, the geneticist couldn't tell me anything about this particular inversion, as neither she or any of her colleagues had ever seen it before.
I used the internet to search various databases and papers, and came up with a single paper that had been written in Europe a few years back that studied a family that had the very same inversion. I was the one who brought this paper to the geneticist's attention (rather than the other way around), after which we were able to confidently set aside the genetic findings as a red herring. This was a case of the patient knowing more than the doctor!!!
While I agree with the spirit of this posting, I believe my story shows that there are no absolutes here. When used intellectually, given the right inputs, it is a very valuable tool!
-Lokatana
About three years ago I was stranded in an airport. I knew some people in the area that could've helped me out, but I couldn't recall their phone number.
So, I then went to the information desk in search of an internet connection I could use to find their phone number. The desk didn't have access available.
A few moments of silence passed, and the lady asked me if a phone book would do.
(Kicker to the story, my friends number was busy because they were using the phone line for AOL).