The Pew Research Center has produced a number of reports about the internet in our lives, and a summary of that topic is now available on Pew's web site (and also on this site as a PDF file). It is part of a larger report called "Trends 2005" that combines and analyzes many of the studies the Pew Center has conducted. The information and conclusions it draws about how the web has woven itself into the fabric of our lives and behavior are fascinating and worth a closer here. Here's a wrap-up (with a few personal interpretations).

• On a typical day toward thet end of 2004, 70 million adults logged onto the internet and used it for some purpose. The number is significant. It is 20 million more than used the internet in 2000, a 37 percent increase.

This represents two-thirds of the adult population in the U.S.

About four-fifths of the teenage population gets on the web every day.

The growth in internet usage has leveled off over the last two to three years, hovering around 70 million adults. It appears that we are unlikely to see the phenomenal growth numbers in the use of the web again that we saw between 1995 and 2002.

Whereas men used to outnumber women on the internet, that is no longer the case. At this point, the number of women in greater than the number of men, but the percentage of men is greater than that of women (all due to the fact that there are more adult women in the U.S. than men). An increase number and percentage of minorities and people with less education and income are using the web. We may be seeing the Digital Divide shrinking, although it's too early for solid conclusions.

• People have integrated the web into their lives – their work, leisure, ways of doing business and thinking about their daily activities. Some 5 million people have posted weblogs, or personal journalists that they make available for others to read. And some 32 million regularly read a weblog of some kind. (And, as the report points out, many others – more than 70 percent of web users – have never heard of a weblog or don't know what it is.)

The major single activity on the web is email. The web has become in the new to communication individually, and it has pervaded every part of our lives both personal and professional.

The web has also become a major library, an amusement park, and a shopping center (for both buying and selling). In addition, it is increasingly a public forum where we can say what we have to say and respond to what others have said.

• Not everything about the web is positive, however. The negatives about the web range from annoyances to dangers. They include spam, computer viruses and unwanted sales pitches. The web can make bad habits easier to acquire and develop – habits such as pornography, gambling and drug use. It can also serve as a place for stalkers, predators and terrorists.

• As mentioned above, there seems to be a leveling off of the growth numbers for web use. One thing the report emphasizes is the shift from dial-up to broadband (always on) connections. About half of the adult uses have access to broadband either at home or at work or both. That number is likely to continue to grow and to change the nature of the use of the web.

Jim Stovall (Posted Feb. 14, 2005)