Posted on: Tuesday, December 25, 2001
Asians online more than other U.S. ethnics
By Janet Kornblum
Usa Today
English-speaking Asian Americans rock the Net.
Not only are higher percentages of this group online than whites, blacks or English-speaking Hispanics, they also spend more time online than any of those groups. That's according to a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (www.pewinternet.org) released last month.
"The Internet has become part of their daily life," said report author Tom Spooner. Among the findings:
• 75 percent of English-speaking Asian American adults have used the Net versus 58 percent of white adults, 43 percent of black adults, and 50 percent of English-speaking Hispanics.
• 61 percent of Asian Americans use e-mail daily, versus 51 percent of whites, 39 percent of Hispanics and 32 percent of blacks. Asian Americans also browse the Web more than others.
The findings aren't surprising to Asian American techies.
"I'm online all day," said James Hong, co-founder of Hot or Not (hotornot.com), a site where visitors post their pictures and have others rate their attractiveness. "Even my parents are online. They use the Net to communicate with relatives back home." Spooner said there may be cultural reasons for Asians' prominence on the Net, such as the high value placed on education and technology, but the main reason is probably wealth and education level.
Asian Americans have the highest household income of any ethnic group and also are most likely to have a college degree, according to U.S. Census data.
The Asian Americans who were studied also tended to be younger than representatives from other ethnic groups; most studies agree that younger people who come from wealthier, well-educated backgrounds tend to be online more, Spooner said.
Min Yang, a Chinese American who is associate editor at IIStix.com (iistix.com), a lifestyle and community site geared toward Gen-X Asians, said the Net is a good outlet for those in their 20s and 30s. "This is a great way for us to be vocal," he said. "A lot of Asians have personal Web sites."
