• by Masha Geller , July 17, 2001

In recent months, many have been wondering whether Americans' use of the Internet is growing or shrinking. Have the problems of the dot-com economy cuased a drop in web use? Have users lost interest in the novelty of the online world?

The Pew Internet and American Life project took it upon themselves to find out whether there really has been a drop in Internet use in the past six months and their findings show that we can all rest easy knowing that the Internet is here to stay and no one is getting tired it just yet.

Pew found that more than half of Internet users (54%) spend the same amount of time online now as they have six months ago. Moreover, almost a third of the study respondents have increased the amount of time they spend online, while only 17% are using the web less.

As far as reason for increased web use go, 29% say they need to use the Internet more for school or work, 21% say they have found more things to do online, 14% say they have more access to a computer or the web than before, 13% say they learned more about how to use the Net or are more comfortable using it and 5% say they have a faster connection.

Pew says that 18% listed some other reason such as their increased interest in an Internet activity like emailing a particular person, or their interest in playing a specific online game, or their greater use of a particular Internet feature such as online banking or auctions.

"Our findings suggest that utilitarian Internet users - those who need it for work or school - are more likely to spend more time online than they did six months ago," researchers said. "And while dot-com site closings make headlines, the downturn has not had a big effect on Internet users' habits." Only 8% say one of their favorite sites has gone out of business, but only a few of those also reported that their time online has dropped in the last half year. Pew says that in most cases, those who have lost websites are finding other online ways to get the information they need.