Internet in the UK

NOP Research Group have recently published results of one of the first surveys of Internet use within the UK.

Their findings overturn some of the usual assumptions about Internet users - often portrayed as uniformly young and male. In fact, one third of all those surveyed who used the Internet were between the ages of 35 and 54, with a further six percent aged 55 and over; about a third were female.

Six percent of the people surveyed had bought a personal computer within the last year, and the same number expected to buy one over the forthcoming year; one in five who had bought a computer in the last year had used it to access the Internet, and a quarter expected to do so over the next year. "The information network looks poised to go mainstream," says Robert Lawson, part of the NOP team.

One of the most interesting findings from the survey was the fact that 20% of Internet users do not read a daily newspaper, preferring to use other sources -- including the Net itself -- to keep up with current affairs. (See the Newsprint to Net article within this issue for more details about newspapers online.)

A more detailed summary of the survey is available at http://www.nopres.co.uk/.