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Social Side-Effects Of Internet Use

venicebeach writes "The World Internet Project has released its third annual report on internet usage. It contains few surprises, but lots of interesing stats - for example the most experienced internet users spend an average of 15.8 hours online per week. CNN is running a story on the social findings - "New study shatters Internet 'geek' image." Apparently they are suprised to hear that internet users are more social than non-users: internet users watch less television, read more books and engage in more social activities."

31 of 476 comments (clear)

  1. Major sideeffect... by Dragoonkain · · Score: 0, Funny

    SLASHDOT FP TROLLING!!!!

  2. 15.8hrs/week! by JohnGrahamCumming · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's more like my daily Internet use :-)

    I wonder what percentile the average /.er is in?

    John.

    1. Re:15.8hrs/week! by JohnGrahamCumming · · Score: 4, Funny

      > Only people who are able to be online more then
      > /.ers are probally pr0n addicts.

      Damn, my secret is out.

      John.

    2. Re:15.8hrs/week! by rusty0101 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Does ssh'ing into a linux box halfway across the world count? What if it's across the same city? What if it's under my desk?

      ssh into a box halfway across the world, across the same city, and under your desk only counts if you have opened a ssl vpn to your sdf account, sshed to the mail server then sshed to your pc to do a rsync of your /var/mail/spool/[$userid] mailbox.

      --
      You never know...
  3. 15.8 hours online per *week* ?? by tuxette · · Score: 4, Funny

    Amateurs! I know people who are on for longer than 15.8 hours per day!

    --
    People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
  4. interesting results... by Schwartzboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    internet users watch less television, read more books and engage in more social activities.

    Next week, we'll hear that it's recently been discovered that internet users simply lie for the purposes of polls and statistics more than non-users do, and those that don't lie outright simply know how to crack the World Internet Project's records and alter their annual reports to be more favorable to the 'net-bound...

    --
    "Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix"- Kieren O'Shaughnessy
    1. Re:interesting results... by snarkh · · Score: 5, Funny

      Right. According to a new survey of internet users, more than 50% of the surveyed lie on their survey questions.

    2. Re:interesting results... by fishbonez · · Score: 4, Funny
      Mark Twain said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." I think we need a corollary that covers surveys:

      "Surveys are lies compounded by statistics."

      --
      Frylock: That's not a toy!
      Master Shake: You say that about everything you own. You should own toys. They're fun.
  5. Re:f post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny
    i represent the 209 and since you failed it we just jumped you out which means we killed you and stole your bling.

    word is bond

  6. We've learned nothing. by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Funny

    The credibility of information published on the Internet also received a surprising boost.

    Despite the existence of countless spoof Web sites and message boards that carry oddball political rants, more than half of Internet users surveyed said "most or all" of the information they find online is reliable and credible.


    New medium, same gullibility.

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  7. Re:I PLAY STAR WARS GALAXIE IN TEH NUDE!!~1` by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    How is this a troll? I'd say it certainly qualifies as a "Social Side-Effect Of Internet Use".

  8. hmm by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 4, Funny

    do D&D sessions count as social gatherings, cuz if so then sure, this works.

    --
    "I only speak the truth"
    Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
  9. Re:Less TV == more social by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 3, Funny

    And considering the average family has 2.6 children i can't imagine how they have time for any of this nonsense, since I imagine the average medical bills to care for a 0.6 child must be astronomical, typically.

    --

    There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
  10. Re:Less TV == more social by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is if posting on slashdot counts as a social activity...

    --

    How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
  11. Liars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who is really going to answer 'I sit unwashed in a darkened room masturbating and hitting refresh entirely too often.'

    P.S. Reading books is not a social activity. What exactly are these unspecified 'social activities?' Is posting to message boards considered 'social.'

    1. Re:Liars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Who is really going to answer 'I sit unwashed in a darkened room masturbating and hitting refresh entirely too often.'

      Damn, I thought I was the only one. And should I go into details about how tabbed browsing of Mozilla has considerably improved my life?

    2. Re:Liars by GoofyBoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      >Who is really going to answer 'I sit unwashed in a darkened room masturbating and hitting refresh entirely too often.'

      I bet if this was on a slashdot poll this option would the overwheming winner.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
  12. Social... by MP3Chuck · · Score: 5, Funny

    "internet users watch less television,"
    Download the episodes...

    "read more books"
    And/or lots of Linux docs...

    "and engage in more social activities"
    Do LAN Parties count?

  13. shouldn't be TOO surprising by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unlike TV, you have to at least be able to READ to get much out of the Internet. :)

  14. Whew!! by Neurotoxic666 · · Score: 4, Funny

    the most experienced internet users spend an average of 15.8 hours online per week

    I read "offline" the first time. I thought it was an okay average...

    And actualy, I think the it's the time we spend offline that socialy affects us. I mean, how can your friends contact you if you're not on MSN??

    --
    You are more than the sum of what you consume. Desire is not an occupation.
  15. Dewey Defeats Everquest! by wondafucka · · Score: 2, Funny
    Obviously if they can't interview evercrack addicts because they are stuck in a timesink, their opinions can't be included in any statistic.

  16. more stats by lonb · · Score: 2, Funny
    "...average of 15.8 hours online per week"

    Let me break down further:
    0.1 hours shopping on eBay
    0.2 hours deleting spam
    0.4 hours reading /.
    15.1 hours spent looking at pr0n

    --
    "Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
  17. 16hrs per day (I win! =) by B5_geek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, I am in the same ball-park.
    16hrs per day (sitting in front of a PC)
    = 112hrs/week

    I wonder if that includes all the remote boxes I have going at once.

    4 SSH sessions to other servers running 24x7
    2-3 ftp sessions d'loading shareware ~ 12 hrs/day
    NewsBin D'loading newsgroups = 24x7
    BitTorrent = 24x7 (x 3 computers)
    email client is running 24x7
    various coding and design stuff = 4hrs/day

    All total I am responsible for 232Hrs/day of computer use. Man, I need a nap. =)

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  18. Re:Not surprised. by justMichael · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...I learned to like people...

    Do you have the URL for that HOWTO?

    I've been trying for years to like people and it just seems tougher than finding a decent ATI driver for X11 ;-)

  19. Obligitory Breakfast Club Quote by HMA2000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    John Bender: So it's social then. Pathetic and sad... but social.

  20. I want to see by Cyno · · Score: 2, Funny

    A study of the social side-effects and environmental impact of commercialism and capitalism.

  21. Re:How's this for a side-effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    And I probably spend 10 hours a day online

    Just pray you don't get an email that says "1 w4n+ 4 d1v0rz04z"

  22. Re:How's this for a side-effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny


    I got a wife and kid now. :) Met my wife on IRC 6 years ago.


    What a concidence! I met your wife on IRC 2 monts ago too!

  23. Re:How's this for a side-effect by Slack3r78 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ahhh IRC - where men are men, women are men, and women under 18 are FBI agents. =P

  24. Re:It makes perfect sense. by PhxBlue · · Score: 2, Funny

    When Dan Rather tells you George Bush is a homicidal maniac bent on purifying the world in holy nuclear fire so he can buy more oil for his deer-antler-adorned SUV fleet, what other TV channel will present the opposite viewpoint?

    Fox News, of course! They're Fair and Balanced(TM), right?

    --
    !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  25. Re:Less TV == more social by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 2, Funny

    Haha, your friends are dumb. Show Z is obviously the only one worth watching of the three.

    --
    Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.