Americans giving up friends, sex for Web life
Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:04am EDT
By Belinda Goldsmith

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Surfing the net has become an obsession for many Americans with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web.

A survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they would feel OK without going on the Web, to which 15 percent said a just a day or less, 21 percent said a couple of days and another 19 percent said a few days.

Only a fifth of those who took part in an online survey conducted by advertising agency JWT between Sept 7 and 11 said they could go for a week.

"People told us how anxious, isolated and bored they felt when they are forced off line," said Ann Mack, director of trend spotting at JWT, which conducted the survey to see how technology was changing people's behavior.

"They felt disconnected from the world, from their friends and family," she told Reuters.

The poll, released on Wednesday, found the use of cell phones and the Internet were becoming more and more an essential part of life with 48 percent of respondents agreeing they felt something important was missing without Internet access.

More than a quarter of respondents -- or 28 percent -- admitted spending less time socializing face-to-face with peers because of the amount of time they spend online.

It also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online.

Cell phones won out over television in a question asking which device people couldn't go without but the Internet trumped all, regarded as the most necessary.

"It is taking away from offline activities, among them having sex, socializing face-to-face, watching TV and reading newspapers and magazines. It cuts into that share," said Mack.

"I don't suppose their partners are too pleased about it."

Mack said a clear trend to emerge from the survey was the increasing need for mobility with people no longer satisfied with just broadband access from home and wanting hand-held devices like iPhones and BlackBerrys.

JWT, whose parent company is WPP, has come up with a new advertising category for people whose lives are so tied up with new technology.

"We are calling them 'digitivity denizens,' those who see their cell phones as an extension of themselves, whose online and offline lives are co-mingled and who would chose a Wi-Fi connection over TV any day," said Mack.

"This is how they communicate, entertain and live."


© Reuters 2006.

I didn't go online my entire vacation in toronto (about 5 days) and didn't miss it a bit. I could go a week or more for sure. But without significant distraction, I probably wouldn't.

I didn't go online my entire vacation in toronto (about 5 days) and didn't miss it a bit. I could go a week or more for sure. But without significant distraction, I probably wouldn't.

CarrieMpls said:

i think its just boredom

I wouldn't mind staying off the internet for very long periods of time if most other people did the same. As it is though, if you're not online then you are out of the loop simply because everybody else is online all the time, with little or no time to spare for real social activities. It's become a self-feeding beast.

By the way, I hate it when I call a friend and leave a message on their answering machine, and then they respond with an e-mail. If I wanted an e-mail I wouldn't have called in the first place.

retina said:

I got an actualy letter in the mail yesterday from a friend who lives just across the city. It was so sweet!

retina said:

I got an actualy letter in the mail yesterday from a friend who lives just across the city. It was so sweet!

CarrieMpls said:

You mean a message just for you, written on real paper, by hand, folded and sent in an envelope, with a stamp of their choosing on it? I can barely even remember those. Getting one would feel like finding a treasure.

CarrieMpls said:

You mean a message just for you, written on real paper, by hand, folded and sent in an envelope, with a stamp of their choosing on it? I can barely even remember those. Getting one would feel like finding a treasure.

retina said:

It was even on cute stationary.

I wouldn't mind staying off the internet for very long periods of time if most other people did the same. As it is though, if you're not online then you are out of the loop simply because everybody else is online all the time, with little or no time to spare for real social activities. It's become a self-feeding beast.

By the way, I hate it when I call a friend and leave a message on their answering machine, and then they respond with an e-mail. If I wanted an e-mail I wouldn't have called in the first place.

CarrieMpls said:

Wow.

I remember when I was around ten or eleven and me and my then girlfriend would write "love letters" for each other on stationary, draw things on the back and sometimes all over the envelope, include a little gift like an eraser or a sticker for example, and then drop them off ourselves in each other's mailboxes. Those were the days, eh? Today kids are lucky if they get an abbreviated text message on their cell phone from that special someone.

retina said:

yeah, this bugs me too, don't text me after I left you a voice mail...I mean how long did it take you to type what you could have speed dialed to tell me?

CarrieMpls said:

Wow.

I remember when I was around ten or eleven and me and my then girlfriend would write "love letters" for each other on stationary, draw things on the back and sometimes all over the envelope, include a little gift like an eraser or a sticker for example, and then drop them off ourselves in each other's mailboxes. Those were the days, eh? Today kids are lucky if they get an abbreviated text message on their cell phone from that special someone.

retina said:

i have a hatbox full of funny letters like that from jr. high

Slave2daGroove said:

Exactly! People think they're being time-efficient but it's actually the opposite.

retina said:

High School had me writing tons of love letters, cool paper, writing Prince in the logo style, pouring my naive little heart into every word in confessing my love...a text wouldn't have accomplished it...

Slave2daGroove said:

what the hell! why didn't i know guys like you then?

retina said:

yeah, this bugs me too, don't text me after I left you a voice mail...I mean how long did it take you to type what you could have speed dialed to tell me?

My personal life has taken off lately and I'm actually finding it difficult to make it back to the org. What a concept, eh? I could walk away forever, but the problem is I'm attached to you all and can't simply abandon my online friends at this point. Also this place keeps me mentally sharp in terms of music knowledge and it's been invaluable in getting advice about music equipment and talking shop with the org artists. I can't get such good information or discussion so efficiently in the real world.