Sunday, August 19, 2007

Internet Users Talking Less and Reading More?!?


I came across this short article describing an Online Publishers Association (OPA) report that claims that todays Internet users--compared with 4 years ago--are reading more and talking less. I should have dug into the cited report, but haven't yet. The idea seems to fly in the face of the the popularity of web2.0 apps. Digital expression appears to be on the rise in all areas from blogging, to video sharing, slideshows, to photos, to playlists, voip, and audio blogging and podcasting.

Sure I find myself reading far more online as well, but I'm definitely communicating and producing/sharing more online as well. Do I chat/IM as much as I did 4 years ago? No, I think that my IMing has actually diminished. Email is probably about the same (although I get far more email than I did 4 years ago--so much for spam filter progress!

Anyway, the article caused me to think, and wonder/question what their metrics and methods were. In this case, I believe my own observations over those of the study...at least with the population on my radar screen these days--US university students.
The larger population may indeed reflect the findings of the study as well the Pew study
full pdf here: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_ICT_Typology.pdf
-JG
(image source: http://flickr.com/photos/inju/)

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