Forget MTV... I want my Web

Lest we forget how much the world has changed and how important the online world has become... this interesting item from Poynter's Al Tompkins:

The Internet as a Political Power

A new study by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication's Digital Future Project found that more people than ever say the Internet gives users political clout. The study tries to measure the extent to which online users probed the net to get answers about candidates, issues and campaigns.

The study also looks at how often most people check their e-mail, how often they instant message others, how much their use their work computers for personal business and how often kids really use the Internet for homework.

How important is the Internet? Look at this response [.pdf]:

E-mail again tops the list of the most popular online activities. The top 10 for 2005 are:

* e-mail,
* general Web surfing,
* reading news,
* shopping,
* entertainment news (searching and reading),
* seeking information about hobbies,
* online banking,
* medical information (searching and reading),
* instant messaging, and
* seeking travel arrangements and travel information. [...]

Internet users are more loyal to going online than to watching television or using their cell phones.

The Digital Future Project found that if forced to give up technology, Internet users would hang on to the Web -- and would drop their television and cell phones first.

When asked which technology they would be most willing to give up, 39.4 percent of Internet users choose their cell phone, followed by 32.7 percent who would first give up television. Only 27.8 percent of users say they would be most willing to give up the Internet.