Report: U.S. Computer Use Second Only to TV Among Electronic Media

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2006 - 12:38pm.

Muncie, Ind. - Americans now spend more time using computers -- the majority of the time at work -- than any other electronic media except television, according to a new study from Ball State University's Center for Media Design (CMD). "While well over half of all media use is in the home, more than two-thirds of all computer use is at work," said Robert Papper, a telecommunications professor and member of CMD's research team. "The television dominates at home, radio dominates the car and the computer dominates the workplace." The report found computer users spent 56% of time online compared to 44% of time using software; while online, 54.8% used Web browsers while 37.7% accessed e-mail and 7.6% used instant messaging. More than 22% of online computer use and 44% of software use at home was found to be work related; however, more than 44% of online computer use at work did not appear to be work related. "It is a device used for work, communications, accessing information, and learning -- and it is increasingly used for entertainment," said Mike Bloxham, CMD's director of insight and research. "It has managed to achieve this in a relatively short period of time of about 20 years. This is a noteworthy achievement for a new device in the average office and home."

http://www.bsu.edu/cmd/insightandresearch