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Embargoed until 1:00 A.M., EST
NSF PR 01-95 - November 29, 2001
Internet Use Takes a Toll on Television Viewing
Survey shows a decline in television use among people
with Internet access
Americans with Internet access are watching less television,
according to the UCLA Internet Report 2001. The survey
of 2,000 households also shows that, as users get
more on-line experience, their television viewing
declines further.
Most Internet users report that they spend about the
same amount of time on non-computing activities at
home as they did before they had the Internet. Internet
users watch 4.5 hours less television weekly than
do non-Internet users, however. And among users who
have had Internet access for five or more years, almost
35 percent said their television viewing decreased,
compared to about 30 percent among users who have
been on-line for less than a year.
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the
UCLA Internet Project polls non-users and users alike.
The objective is to survey populations in the U.S.
and abroad for an entire generation, and to get a
comprehensive picture of how the Internet is affecting
society.
In a sign that the Internet is gaining popularity among
young people, parents increasingly deny access to
it as a punishment. In the 2001 survey, the percentage
of parents who said they did so increased from 30.6
percent to 37.2 percent, while those using denial
of television as a punishment decreased slightly from
48.7 percent to 47.5 percent.
"We are undertaking the study of the Internet that
should have been conducted on television in the late
1940s," said Jeffrey Cole, director of the UCLA Center
for Communication Policy. "Although that opportunity
was missed, we can take this chance to explore how
the Internet's emergence is affecting consumer behavior,
civic processes, careers and other social factors.
We are beginning to look not just at the U.S., but
also at Europe and Asia, and next year the sample
will include Iran."
The survey provides a trove of information about how
Americans interact with their computers. More than
72 percent of Americans have some form of access to
the Internet, up from 67 percent in 2000. Of those
not yet on-line, 44.4 percent expect to get connected
in the next 12 months. Asked to rate the Internet's
importance as a source of information, more than 90
percent said it is moderately to extremely important.
Strikingly, the percentage stating that the Internet
is not an important information source dropped from
17.2 percent last year to only 3 percent in 2001.
Trust in the accuracy of Internet information increased
in the 2001 survey, as 56.1 percent of respondents
said most such information is reliable, compared to
52.2 percent in 2000.
"Everyone recognizes that the Internet has reshaped
society," said Tom Greene, senior program director
for the NSF Division of Advanced Networking Infrastructure
and Research. "But the UCLA study offers vital details
about how our lives are being changed. Our division
of NSF tends to focus on cutting-edge networking for
the research community, and this report is an important
reminder of the broader impacts on daily life. For
example, those 18 or younger are significantly drawn
to the Internet as a way to meet people, which could
have many implications."
Among 16- to 18-year-olds, 33.7 percent say they find
it easier to meet people on-line than in person. For
those 15 and younger, the figure is 28 percent. Those
percentages far outstrip the number of adults who
state such a preference, from 12.5 percent among 19-
to 25-year-olds to less than 10 percent among respondents
over 26 years old. Young people are also more likely
to have multiple screen names and to share intimate
details that they wouldn't generally reveal in person.
Asked whether they tell their parents about everything
they do on the Internet, 55 percent said no. About
91 percent of parents say they supervise kids' Internet
use by "keeping an eye" on them, compared to 31.5
percent who use filtering software. Just over 62 percent
said they limit the time children spend on-line, and
66.7 percent said their children have to ask permission
before using the Internet.
For more about the UCLA Internet Project, including
the complete 2001 report, see: http://www.ccp.ucla.edu.
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