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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 4, 2002

Most online users surf government, too

By Anick Jesdanun
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Nearly 60 percent of online Americans have renewed auto registrations, researched tourism opportunities or performed other tasks at a government Web site, according to a survey released yesterday.

Connecting with the government online is more common than seeking financial information, sending instant messages or getting sports scores over the Internet, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found.

Popular tasks include checking tourism and recreational information, doing research for work or school and seeking information about policy or services.

Less common are e-commerce transactions, like paying a fine or getting a fishing license. But 12 percent have used a government site to renew a driver's license or auto registration, and 16 percent have filed taxes online.

As of January, 68 million adults had visited at least one government site, an increase from 40 million in March 2000. Nearly two-thirds sought information on public policy, while one-third contacted an official online. Nineteen percent used the Internet to lobby government.

Most of the online interaction is at the federal or state level, with only 41 percent of government site users visiting something local.

The survey is based primarily on phone interviews Sept. 5-27 with 815 American adults who indicated in previous random-based surveys they had used a government site; the margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The percentage of Internet users visiting government sites came from a January survey of 2,391 adults, including 1,451 Internet users; that margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.