Broadband users tend to be Net's best contributors

By Mike Snider
USA Today

Internet surfers who have high-speed or broadband connections do more than just point, click and consume content — they also contribute to cyberspace by becoming creators.

Nearly six of 10 broadband users have created online content such as their own Web sites, or shared photos or other data with others, according to a recent report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"From day one, consumers realized the Internet's great application was as a two-way medium — not just one-to-one, but many-to-many communication. It's a different beast," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The findings, he said, "still reflect that enthusiasm. People are not passive recipients of media. They are creators and distributors, too."

The number of people in homes with high-speed connections (cable modem, digital subscriber phone line or satellite service) is rising rapidly — 24 million U.S. residents, up 33 percent since December, Pew estimates, based on its survey of 507 Net users. Another 80 million connect to the Net using traditional dial-up connections. (Broadband delivers data at four or more times the speed of the fastest dial-up modems.)

When it comes to being creative, broadband users were twice as likely as dial-up users to have created personal Web sites or posted to other sites.

"When you have that broadband connection, one of the things you want to use it for is sharing things, whether photo albums or personal Web pages," said Joe Laszlo, analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. He said that the Pew findings correspond with Jupiter's research.

Other highlights of the Pew survey:

• The average broadband user does seven things online daily, such as get news or listen to music. The average dial-up user does three.
• 82 percent of broadband users are online daily vs. 58 percent for dial-up users.
• 69 percent of broadband homes have more than one computer; 55 percent have home networks.
• Broadband has led 37 percent of Net users to watch TV less, and 31 percent to shop in stores less.
• One in four broadband users say they spend more time working at home.

Rainie said the report's finding of steady growth in broadband adoption contradicts public perception that growth has stalled. While he expects the adoption rate to slow, "the demand is out there."

If providers want to attract new broadband customers, "they could market the creative advantage," Rainie said. Lowering access charges also might help — the average monthly bill is $46. "The price point is an issue," he said.

Somewhat surprising was the report's finding that downloading music was a daily activity for only 17 percent of broadband users; more popular activities included getting information about hobbies, and downloading games and pictures.

However, Jupiter research suggests 40 percent to 50 percent of broadband users regularly download music.

"Music has been one of the things that we have seen (become) a killer application, to the extent there is one," Laszlo said.

But, Rainie said, the findings that broadband users do more and different activities buttress the Net's core strength.

"The idea that there is a 'killer app,' this one great thing that will dominate the Internet space, is probably the wrong way to think about it," he said. "The Internet itself, in its variety and all of its manifestations, is the killer app."