I was very surprised to read that the United States was not first on the list of broadband users but was eleventh. Aren't Americans supposed to be the leading force in technology? Realizing how old this article was (all results are from 2004) I did some researching. As broadband users increased, so does time spent on the internet. In 2007, the list of countries with the most average hours of internet use consisted of Canada, Israel, South Korea, United States, and the UK. The only study that the U.S. won first place was how many users ages 15 and older used the internet. The U.S. won with 153.4 million users.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1242
Shocked? I understand that this study is not much younger than the Pew study but still...the U.S. did not win the average hours use? Stereotypically, American kids spend all day on the computer. Do we need to start giving America a little more credit? I mean Israel and South Korea even beat us....
I admit that I am surprised that the United States is not the global leader in terms of average hours spent on the internet--but I would be extremely cautious to take this data as a sign that this cyber-epidemic has not hit our nation as hard as others. As with all statistical information, we must examine the various factors that would influence this study. Americans are perhaps even more notorious for hours spent watching television, playing video games, and other "mind-mushing" activities (according to http://vorg.ca/2505-Average-daily-TV-hours-per-country, the average American spends 3 more hours a day watching TV than the runner-up nation, Turkey). Basically, it's not that we've miraculously developed a sense of responsibility, it's just that we haven't figured out how to increase the number of hours in a day so we can lead in all categories.
ReplyDeleteLike Emily, I was surprised to see that America was not number one in broadband users. With the data being about five years old, I did a little research, too.
ReplyDeleteI was again surprised to find that 25 percent of the population that doesn’t use the Internet at all. In this New York Times article (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/surprise-america-is-no-1-in-broadband/?apage=2), it used another Pew article for its research. When Pew looked at the reasons why people didn’t use broadband (combining dial-up users with those that don’t have Internet access at all), it found that by far the most common reason was that people said that going online was not relevant to their lives. Some 51 percent of people surveyed in these groups said things like they weren’t interested in the Internet or they were too busy.
I was amazed that so many people have escaped the phenomenon that is the internet, but then I read Chad’s response. I wondered if the people that do not use the internet are the people that watch the most TV or play the most video games. However according to http://www.nielsen.com/media/2008/pr_081031.html, the heaviest users of the Internet are also among the heaviest viewers of television: the top fifth of Internet users spend more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared to 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all. Nielsen found that the reverse is true as well – the lowest consumers of television have the lowest usage levels for the Internet. Maybe not all Americans are as addicted to technology like we think.
Well, that seems like good news, but how bad are those other cultures about spending time on the internet? It seems like Americans do have a problem with over use and we shouldn't think "Oh well we're fine because South Koreans spend more time on line than we do." We should probably strive to get lower on that list, getting up and actually doing something physical instead of staring at a screen with absolutely no benefit to ourselves at times.
ReplyDeleteAmen Wade! Americans need to learn to turn off the boob tube and getting off their lazy bums and actually do something productive. It's amazing to me the percentage of the day people waste on pointless social networks such as facebook. Teenagers in general would benefit from using up all their energies in doing something productive other than wasting away their day. Exercise is one way, which in turn would reduce the hetic and stressful lives of teens. With the amount of time teenagers spend on the internet, it would equal out to getting a part time job. America needs to be proud of the fact that we have the knowledge of the internet, yet are not abusing it's power.
ReplyDeleteJust because America didn't rank #1 in each category does not set my mind at ease. Reading through the assigned article I kept thinking about how much time I actually spend on the internet. I quickly became alarmed. I would have so much extra time to do so many other things if I could just stay off the internet! It seriously bothers me that I can't imagine my life without it. We rely on the internet for most everything, but I know that it isn't a necessity. I mean, my mother and father are just fine and they grew up without it. Actually, my dad still doesn't use it - I'm completely serious. I just wish there were more people (including myself) that didn't value the internet as some precious treasure.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we should give America a little more credit. However, Let's keep in mind that eleventh-worst in the world as far as technology addiction is hardly an impressive standard. Also, it would be interesting to see what children from each of these countries actually do with that time. I can't say what a young Israeli does on his computer, but I can say with certainty that American children's online activity is nearly all useless, if not harmful.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that we are fairly addicted. Just look at all of the girls and guys who have to check facebook every day-I am not one, but I can say that nearly 10-27.567 % of my friends are. I don't know if the older generations are addicted, in fact I can say for sure that most aren't, but I can say that a significant percentage of the upcoming generations are--thus if we are not now then we likely will be in the near future.
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