Survey: For many Americans, the Internet has become the great problem solver

When facing a collection of conundrums, including health problems, tax issues and schooling choices, U.S. citizens are more likely to head online for help than to go to the library or consult family or experts, according to a new survey from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne and the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And when they do, most are finding the information they need to solve their problem, according to the survey.

“What was a novelty in the late ’90s for a lot of users has moved to the center of their information universe,” said Lee Rainie, Pew Internet’s director. “That’s a very dramatic story of technology adoption and impact in a short amount of time.”

But not everyone is going online for help. Instead, the survey found sharp divisions between Americans who have broadband access at home or work and those who either have a dial-up connection or no access at all.

Americans who had broadband tended to use the Internet to help solve a variety of problems, and it seemed to drive them to access other information sources as well, including libraries, books and government agencies.

In contrast, those without broadband - who generally are older, poorer and less well educated than those with it - tended to report fewer problems they needed to solve and to use far fewer community resources in dealing with the issues they did have.

Source: mercurynews.com