An interesting report by the Center for the Digital Future at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California analyzes current trends and finds that people are quickly moving away from print in favor of digital. The report, released late last month, includes many interesting statistics about the practices and preferences of internet users. According to the study, internet reliance is reaching a new peak; the internet is now used by 82 percent of Americans.
Amongst the findings are statistics that illustrate the continuing decline of newspapers: "Eighteen percent of Internet users said they stopped a subscription to a newspaper or magazine because they now get the same or related content online, and twenty-two percent of users who read newspapers said they would not miss the print edition.”
However, while most people rely on the web as an important source for information, a much smaller percentage feel that the information is reliable. According to the report, “In the year 2000, 55 percent of users said that most or all of online information is reliable; in the current study, 39 percent had the same response – a new low level for the Digital Future Project.”
The report also covers many other topics including: internet users’ perception of website advertisements, social networking, and online shopping.
A full overview of the report can be found here. In addition, a recent New York Times Bits blog article discusses the report.
