UCLA Net survey released
The "digital divide" exists in many countries around the world. But it’s particularly apparent in the gap between the number of men and women who use the Internet, say surveys conducted in 14 countries in the just-released UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) World Internet Project.
The first survey of its kind to produce international comparison data on the social, political and economic effects of Internet use and non-use, the survey found more men than women go online in all of the surveyed countries.
Among many major findings, the study reveals:
* Television viewing is lower among Internet users than non-users in all of the surveyed countries.
* Information on the Internet is viewed as generally reliable and accurate by a large percentage of users in most countries.
* Surprisingly high levels of online use among the poorest citizens in all of the survey countries – in spite of major divisions in Internet use between the richest and the poorest.
* Important effects on social, political, economic, and religious life in urban China, where the world’s largest population finds increased ability to reach out to others, in spite of government restrictions.
Interestingly, in the US 53.1% of users say most, or all, of the information they find online is reliable and accurate. The the "least-trusting Internet" users are Swedes; 36% say none or only some of the information online is reliable and accurate, followed by Japan (25.3%), Germany (18.5%) and Singapore (18.3%).
"We found some online behavior is remarkably consistent worldwide," says Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy.
"Clearly, use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world while having little impact on positive aspects of social life, most Internet users generally trust the information they find online and Internet use is having a major impact on life in urban China."
The World Internet Project – created and organized by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, which also analyzed the international comparisons – includes studies that were conducted primarily in 2002 and 2003 by universities and research institutes in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
The countries, age ranges of respondents and survey year are: Britain (ages 14 and up, 2003), Chile (residents of Santiago, ages 12–60, 2003), China (12 cities of more than 100,000 people, ages 17–60, 2003), Germany (ages 14–75, 2002), Hungary (ages 14 and up, 2001), Italy (ages 16 and up, 2002), Japan (ages 12–74, 2002), Korea (ages 12–64, 2001), Macao (ages 18–74, 2001), Singapore (ages 18 and up, 2001), Spain (ages 16 and up, 2003), Sweden (ages 18–80, 2002), Taiwan (ages 18 and up, 2000) and the United States (ages 12 and up, 2002).
Researchers asked a basic set of questions, but not all questions were asked in every country.
Internet gender gap
"Overall, we see an average 8% gap between men and women using the Internet," Cole says. "That figure is not as large as we might have expected, given the gender disparities that persist around the world. However, in several technologically developed countries, the gap is surprisingly large – in some cases almost twice as many men as women use the Internet."
The gender gap in Internet use was as high as 20.2% in Italy (men, 41.7%; women, 21.5%) to as low as 1.6% in Taiwan (where 25.1% of men are Internet users, compared to 23.5% of women).
In the United States, 73.1% of men use the Internet compared to 69% of women – about half the average gap of countries in the UCLA World Internet Project.
Television viewing
In every country in the World Internet Project, Internet users watch less television than non-users.
The largest gap in TV viewing between Internet users and non-users is in Chile (Santiago) and Hungary, where in both countries Internet users watch an average of 5.7 hours less television each week than non-users; following closely are Japan (5.4 hours less for users) and the United States (5.2 hours less for users).
"The first three years of the UCLA Internet Project have shown that Internet users in America ‘buy’ their time to go online from the hours they once spent watching television," Cole says. "Now we are seeing the same trend worldwide. Clearly, we are witnessing a huge change in behavior that we are only now beginning to explore."
Social activities: Internet users vs. non-users
In contrast to television viewing, Internet users in all of the surveyed countries spend more time than non-users in social activities.
Internet users in all of the surveyed countries spend more time or as much time as non?users socializing with friends or exercising, and spend more time reading books in all of the countries except Germany and the United States.
Information on the Internet: Is it reliable and accurate?
In most of the countries in the UCLA World Internet Project, more than half of Internet users say "most or all" of the information they find online is reliable and accurate.
Users in Korea have the highest level of trust in online information, with 69.7% saying most or all of the information on the Internet is reliable and accurate.
The least-trusting Internet users are Swedes; 36% says none or only some of the information online is reliable and accurate, followed by Japan (25.3%), Germany (18.5%) and Singapore (18.3%).
In the United States, 53.1% of users say that most or all of the information they find online is reliable and accurate, while 7.1% say that none or only some of the information is reliable and accurate.
The Internet in China
The Internet is having a measurable impact on social life among users in urban China (12 cities of more than 100,000).
Among the findings about urban China:
* Politics – More than twice as many Internet users in China compared to any other surveyed country say that the Internet increases their contact with people who share their political interests.
* Hobbies and recreation – Significantly more Internet users in China compared to any other surveyed country report that the Internet has increased their contact with people who share their hobbies or recreational interests.
* Religion – 11.2% of Internet users in China say that the Internet increases their contact with people who share their religion – more than in any other country and a significant figure for citizens of a nation in which religion officially is banned.
* Online friends – Internet users in China report an average of 7.7 online friends who they have never met in person – more than twice as many as any other surveyed country.
Overall Internet use
The percentage of Internet users varies considerably from country to country in the World Internet Project, with a high of 71.1% in the United States to a low of 17.5% in Hungary.
Hours per week online
Korea has the largest percentage (55.7%) of Internet users who are online an average of 10 hours or more per week; by comparison, 41% of users in the United States are online an average of 10 hours or more per week.
Internet use: The richest and the poorest users
Not surprisingly, the wealthiest quarter of the population is much more likely to use the Internet than the poorest quarter. However, in more than half of the surveyed countries, at least 20% of the poorest quarter of the population uses the Internet.
Sweden (49.1%), Korea (46.4%) and the United States (43.1%) have the highest use of the Internet within the poorest quarter of the population.
