What do Americans use the Internet for? Fun, apparently. Figures from a December 2005 poll suggest that a third of US web surfers browse with no particular aim in mind (which presumably means they're doing it for the fun of it.)
A report on the survey, which was conducted by Pew Internet, has brought these figures to light. The report suggests that as a user grows more experienced with the net, they become more inclined just to surf it for the hell of it. What about those of us who've always surfed the web for fun?
It is still the case that being young and male are predictors of Web surfing on a typical day. But this kind of idle browsing has a broader appeal now, cutting through all races, income groups, levels of educational accomplishment.
"Being young and male" can clearly be read as "being a geek". That aside, it seems the geeks have become the trendsetters. A wider variety of people have over the past months and years grown more familiar with the Internet and as such have adopted, dare I say it, geeky surfing habits.
Of course, the content of the Internet is different now, with something for everyone, and that something nearly always seems to be in the form of a blog. Why? The web works in mysterious ways, as does my cynicism. Access to a broadband Internet connection has also been one of the causes of increased "fun" usage, the report states. Alas, the report doesn't indicate whether "fun" surfing includes the perusal of "erotica", and one might expect it would.
For the report in full, head over to Pew Internet.
