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Studies

by Carlo Longino

Fri, Dec 16th 2005 3:34pm





People Settling Down On The Internet

from the don't-forget-the-why dept

An analyst firm has a new research report out that says the "reach of certain core online activities is declining" -- basically that while people aren't spending any less time online, they're engaging in fewer activities. But what's not clear is why (presumably you've got to buy the report to find out). It would seem natural that after people have been online, they'd settle down and gravitate towards certain regular activities and perhaps not play around as much, or scale back time spent on things they don't get much value out of. It's also important to consider that the Internet's not in a vacuum, and the way people use it is influenced by any number of factors. For instance, the study says that IM use has taken a hit. That could be because cell phone service has gotten cheaper, or people have moved on to text messaging. Similarly, it cites a downturn in email usage -- maybe it's become too much of a burden, or people are tired of dealing with spam and phishing. Despite what studies might say, the Internet isn't dying. But it's just as unreasonable to think that the things people use it for won't change over time.

23 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Jared Anderson, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 5:19pm

    I hope to god the internets not dying,that would be insane.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    BlackCow, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 7:39pm

    The internet is not dieing man. It will never die. It will just keep improveing. Soon enough cell phones will have their own IP adresses, hell voIP phones already do. I bet that almost everything that has anything to do with comunication will be connected to the internet. Who knows, they may have dedicated internet lines, (like they have dedicated phone and cable lines)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    nobody, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 7:47pm

    Fios is direct line internet

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 7:56pm

    I have ADSL, omg I have a dedicated internet line too! The future came quickly!!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    internet junkie, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 8:22pm

    If the internet died, I probably would too.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    IM definitely dying

    identicon
    Seth Brundle, Dec 16th, 2005 @ 9:31pm

    I totally understand IM tapering off. Now that the newness has rubbed off, only people whose lifestyles are more suited to IM will be using it.

    I used to work at Yahoo! and everyone working ther had IM on all the time. But shortly after I left, I shut it off.

    As soon as it wasnt my job anymore, people popping up windows on my computer while I was using suddenly became nothing more than an annoyance.

    For adults, I just think email is a much more polite and managable communications medium.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    The internet can't "die"

    identicon
    Bobthealmighty, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 12:03am

    look, people,, it's just about impossible for the internet to die.
    1. loads of companies use it for their day-to-day activities
    2. Us
    3. The government loves the internet

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  

    No Subject Given

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    Tashi, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 12:59am

    I think it may point to a decline of new internet converts. Most people that can afford to have the internet and that have the infrastructure to support it are online, and no new inroads are being made to bring people online that have never been online before. The cost is no longer getting cheaper or the poor are getting poorer Or, even worse, ranks of the middle class are joining the poor... .i.e. people that did have the internet found themselves in positions where it was a luxury and had to get rid of it due to hard times. In this economy I wouldn't be surprised. I read a story about a senior citizen in Kentucky selling her prescription meds to pay her utilities and grocery bills. She was taking half the drugs and selling the rest. What a choice to make.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    Re: IM definitely dying

    identicon
    Tashi, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 1:15am

    I believe that's true. I remember back in '97, '98 I used to chat on icq, aim, then later yahoo and a few other IMs. Getting random messages from anywhere in the world was common and very cool. I chatted and met people from Hong Kong to South Africa, from 12 years old to 70 about anything from religion to rap music to soccer. When I traveled to Asia I even met some in person. Today, occasionally I turn on yahoo messenger where out of maybe 3 dozen people on my list, I see and chat with the same 5 or 6 people. I'd say a few times a week to maybe a few times a month.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    Re:

    identicon
    AZ, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 6:53am

    Well once DSL or a fast internet service gets to everyone then I think people will do more because it will take less time to do things online. We cant get DSL yet I wish we could. I do a lot online and wish I could do more but dial up can only move so fast.....lol

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  

    Internet History

    identicon
    Gyrofly, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 8:33am

    The Internet was designed to survive. It will never die. Here's an interesting read if you want to get a brief overview of how and why the Internet exists ...

    http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    No Subject Given

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    Chris, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 11:34am

    If it weren't for the Internet I'd be out of a job.

    LONG LIVE THE INTERNET!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    death of internet

    identicon
    Jared, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 12:17pm

    I predict that in the year 10000 the internet will cease to exist as it will not be able to handle the extra digit in the year. Also, human brains will explode as they will all be directly connected to it with super fast chemical connection lines owned by Google.

    Just my four cents.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  

    Re: death of internet

    identicon
    michael, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 1:32pm

    i agree with jared, except on the ownership issue.
    not google.
    GoogleSoft Warner Exxon.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    amazon10x, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 3:44pm

    I have ADSL, omg I have a dedicated internet line too! The future came quickly!!

    Maybe people in the future will be smarter than you; that'd be a real treat!

    "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is ... a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines" (Wikipedia)

    You do not have a dedicated internet line. That same line is used for your telephone.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    amazon10x, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 3:52pm

    This is the second time I have seen this happen in the last couple weeks.

    ...scale back time spent on things they don't get much value out of.

    Have you and Mike ever heard of the grammatical rule that one should not end a sentence with a preposition? A correct form of the previous statement would be:

    ...scale back time spent on things out of which they don't get much value.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  

    hit to IM

    identicon
    PJ Brunet, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 7:02pm

    The reason for the drop in email and IM is that more people are communicating w/ FOAF, CRM, blogs, vbulletin, etc. Also authorization has evolved--with a FOAF system you have less noise than with an IM. Also with AJAX there is no need for an IM client.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  

    Re: hit to IM

    identicon
    Jared Anderson, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 7:15pm

    IMs are no wheres near long gone though,they still get used religiously.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  

    Re: hit to IM

    identicon
    Andrew Strasser, Dec 17th, 2005 @ 11:46pm

    People are as slow to catch up with the times now as they have been forever. It is too bad that the broadband companies haven't done as well as the other industrialized countries in this world on delivering internet to the population at a rate it can afford. Maybe it has to do with the fact the economy is being literally beaten apart by economics and nature. This would be more the line of thinking I would follow on this subject.

    Frankly neither Netzero or Juno are a free service anymore not even the nifty ten hours a month hehe. Demand will rise again as time continues on. When the old people die there will only be computer users left.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  20.  

    Re: No Subject Given

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    SuperJudge, Dec 18th, 2005 @ 7:04am

    I pray for automatic internet spell check. That would be an improvement.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  21.  

    Re: No Subject Given

    identicon
    Justin, Dec 18th, 2005 @ 10:08am

    Wasn't there a poll not too long ago that stated how many people were using IM programs all the time? They used them most of the time in the work environment. Made it easier to communicate to a co-worker across the room, in the next builing, or somewhere else. Many users stated they used IM's to check on their kids at home and actually preferred IM over E-Mail.

    Anyways, long live the net.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  22.  

    not dying

    identicon
    "That Guy", Dec 18th, 2005 @ 1:45pm

    MySpace gets 2.3 Million new users every month... 2.3 Million NEW ONES... most of my friends if not all of them have accounts and use the e-mail and bulletin system more than conventional e-mail... to keep all 300 of us in the loop of whats up, or down.

    basically people (more people) are using the internet .... they just aren't using it like WE have been using it for the past decade.

    People aren't communicating in the ways they used to because their are new ways to go about it... community sites consume most of online time spent now-a-days... forums, friendsters, myspaces, yahoo 360s and Live Journals.

    Sentence, Period, Paragraph.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  23.  

    Re: Internet History

    identicon
    gtard, Dec 18th, 2005 @ 10:42pm

    I think that a complete breakdown of the internet is highly unlikely but i see it getting out of control. Even just the unorganization of it is something to take note. I think that people will eventually get fed up of seeing all of the "waste" on the net and maybe a different internet will get made. It would seem like it would follow the general trend of most modern media. Take a look at radio...started off a novelty, everyone listened to it. Then it started to die off (mostly due to advances in media and the introduction of the television to common american households) but pretty soon it was filled up with crap and they designed a special "eliete" radio XM/Sirius. The same thing was done when satalite first came out. I would think that the internet (as opposed to fizzeling out) will be redone and become more organized and possibly (centralized?)

    we just have to make sure that if it does get centralized that we keep it out of the hands of those that pollute the net today or we'll recieve a scary welcoming...
    Big Brother is watching...
    -gtard

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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