New report proves net users not 'geeks'
14 January 2004
People have always been led to believe that the typical Internet user is a nerd, but a new report studying web habits has found otherwise.
The World Internet Project report found that the typical user spends less time watching television, is a keen reader and actively socialises with friends.
Although some findings are more typical of trends, such as more men surf the net than women, and the wealthier sections of the population are more avid users, the image of the typical user is a long way from the stereotypical image of the loner geek.
Derived from 14 countries, the results do show that the digital divide - the gap in web usage caused by poverty impacts, is getting smaller.
Jeffrey Cole, director of the UCLA Centre for Communication Policy, the California university that organised the project, told Reuters: 'Use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world while having little impact on positive aspects of social life.'
Information published on the web was also found to be very credible more than half of Internet users surveyed said 'most or all' of the information they find online is reliable and credible.
Mr Cole added: 'Most Internet users generally trust the information they find online.'
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