A new poll of questionable methodology and magnitude reports that internet users engage, on average, in email-related activities more frequently than web searching. However, web searching occupies a higher proportion of users’ time than in previous editions of the survey.
The manner in which these polls are hyped by PR-hungry research groups and journalists is pretty amusing: “Gee, it looks like search is catching up to email! When will it be number one?” would not be uncommon. It’s such a meaningless, trite statistic (and such a misleading analogy), far less insightful than, say, the content of those searches or the nature of those uses.
What I really want to know is: “What do people search for?”; “How much of the time do they find it?”; “Why do they search for it online?”; “Does increased search reliance correspond to reduced use of local bookmarks?”; “How is email being used?” and “What are the least popular but most rapidly growing online activities?”.
Originally by The Register – Internet and Law: Wild Wild Web, 2:34 PM
