RatcliffeBlog - Mitch Thinking Out Loud

The Web is a key...

The Web is a key source of household information

The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 40 percent of households have now been online more than three years, with the Web playing an increasing role in their daily lives and decision-making.

Here is how Americans line up when probed about specific topics and whether they think the Internet will satisfy their information needs:

For information or services from a government agency, 65% of all Americans expect the Web to have that information; 82% of Internet users say this and 39% of non-users say this.

In the realm of electronic commerce, 63% of all Americans expect that a business will have a Web site that gives them information about a product they are considering buying. Four out of five (79%) of Internet users say this and 38% of non-users say this.

For news, 69% of Americans expect to be able to find reliable, up-to-date news online; 85% of Internet users say this, compared with 43% of non-Internet users.

For health care information, 67% of Americans expect that they can find reliable information about health or medical conditions online; 81% of Internet users say this versus 45% of non-Internet users.

Overall, 84% of all Americans have an expectation of finding information online in at least one of these four topical areas. That translates into nearly all Internet users (97%) and most non-Internet users (64%).

When it comes to personal information, the story is different. Only 31% of Americans expect to be able to find reliable information about someone online; 35% of Internet users say this and 25% of non-users say this. However, 58% of Internet users say they expect to be able to reach someone via email.