Length of use correlates with amount of use. The Internet has been around for about five years now, and the longer people have been web users the more hours and the more activities they report engaging in. While self-selection may be playing a role with early adopters, the data in Chart, along with the generational data presented here and in the press release, strongly suggest a model of social change with not only a growing number of Internet users, but with web users doing more and more things on the internet in the future . 21 percent of differences in Internet access can be explained by demographic factors. By contrast, a college education boosts rates of Internet access by well over 40 percentage points compared to the least educated group, while people over 65 show a more than 40 percentage point drop in their rates of Internet access compared to those under 25.
Age really reflects generational differences, and thus shows what to expect in the future.
There are few demographic differences in Internet use . For newspapers, the same effect is less dramatic and may also reflect the fact that people could substitute reading the news on the web for reading the paper. For heavy Internet users with regular jobs, a substantial portion of their total Internet use is likely to take place at the office to begin with - and it seems to be keeping them there for longer hours, in addition to invading their home. There are at present no indications suggesting the beginnings of telecommuting.