Our trusted friend – the internet

Jan 8 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

ASURVEY released last week by global market research specialist, TNS, revealed some interesting facts about the way we’re using the internet.

First off, it seems we’re becoming less and less trusting of printed newspapers, whilst relying more on online sources. Less than a quarter of Britons surveyed regarded newspapers as ‘highly trusted’ sources of information. Conversely, 40% of the 2,500 UK respondents said they ‘highly trusted’ online news websites.

If the results are a little confusing (surely most people realise that much of the copy on news websites has been reproduced from the paper – and if you don’t then check out this article online at www.nebusiness. co.uk), they’ll nevertheless make pleasant reading for advocates of the internet.

And mercifully for any professional reporters reading this, it seems most web users don’t blindly trust whatever they read online. Instead, they really do understand the differences between which online channels can be trusted and which cannot.

Wikipedia, for example, has been shown to be unreliable as a single source of info on several occasions, and fared much worse than news sites such as the BBC in the trust stakes, at just 24%. Private blogs were the least trusted source of information, with just six percent of Brits rating them ‘highly trusted’.

Conducted in 16 countries, the ‘Digital World, Digital Life’ survey examined online behaviour and perspectives around the world from some 27,000 participants, and threw up a few other surprising results.

British housewives were found to spend more time online than any other social group in the world, at 47% of their free time – compared with 39% of students around the world and 32% for the unemployed.

As a nation, the Chinese spent the largest amount of their leisure time online – at 44% – compared with just 28% of UK respondents.

And perhaps the most surprising statistic of all was that six out of 10 adults in the UK have gone on to meet in ‘real life’ someone they first met online, and that a quarter of Britons’ friends were ‘online only’ – ie people they’ve never interacted with outside the internet. The survey revealed a Britain, and indeed a world, that is becoming increasingly confident and sophisticated in its online activities.

We are spending more and more of our leisure time online than ever before, and as an increasing number of useful and entertaining services will appear over the next 12 months, I can only see that trend continuing.

Lewis Harrison is communications manager at Codeworks, the North East’s centre for digital innovation