Gap Exists Between Net Awareness and Use

By GREG MILLER

Oct. 7, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Internet is everywhere these days, on the evening news, in the movies and on the covers of magazines.

That blizzard of media coverage has dramatically raised awareness of the global computer network among Southern Californians. But so far, cyberspace is populated by a relative few, according to the Times Technology Poll.

More than 70% of those polled were able to give a passable definition of the Internet, but only one in five of the respondents said they ever connect to it from their home computers. The poll of 1,200 Los Angeles and Orange County residents was conducted for the Times by Mark Baldassare & Associates.

The results indicate that there is a wide gap between the level of media coverage surrounding the Internet and the extent to which it has actually become a part of people’s lives.

“We have completely saturated the public in Internet hype, but it is far less important and far less essential to people’s lives than the hype says,” said Clifford Stoll, an astronomer in Oakland.

The media coverage of the Internet has been overwhelming. The Times alone has mentioned the Internet in at least 2,000 articles so far this year.

Still, the gap between awareness and use could narrow quickly if other surveys are any guide.

The percentage of people nationally with access to the Internet was 24% last March, up from just 16% in August 1995, according to Nielsen Media Research, the company that measures ratings of television programs.

Similarly, the percentage of people who had used the Internet within the past six months rose to 17% in March from 10% the previous August. Nielsen polled 2,800 people ages 16 and over in the United States and Canada.

Sending and receiving electronic mail is the most common use of the Net, cited by eight in 10 of those with Internet connections at home.

Tom Farrell of Lomita, for example, said the Internet allows him to keep in touch with his daughter in Wisconsin. Sending e-mail is faster than regular mail and supplements their weekend telephone calls, he said. But faster isn’t always better.

“I have a tendency to get tired of writing and punch send,” said Farrell, 70. “I think I’ve said some things that were a little bit calloused.”

“In the old days, when I’d dictate a letter,” he said, “my secretary would bring it to me, I’d read it and maybe put it in my desk drawer.” E-mail, he said, doesn’t allow for that kind of editing or reflection.

Following the stock market is another popular Internet application. Steve Chang of Fountain Valley said he spends much of his computer time looking up stock prices and exploring stock discussion groups.

But Chang, 50, also said the Internet is a mixed blessing.

“Things always have two sides,” he said. The Net makes it much easier for investors to get information about thousands of stocks. “But the bad thing,” he said, “is you spend more time with your computer than with your family.”

All of which helps explain why even the elite of the computer industry regard the Net as a valuable resource, but one that is plagued with pitfalls.

“The Internet is both a horrible place and a wonderful place,” said Donald Norman, vice president of research at Apple Computer. “It does allow you to do good research. But it is also a hellhole of worthless information, time-wasters and criminals and pornographers.

“It is,” he said, “the real world.”

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Of Nets and Surf

Although knowledge of the Internet is widespread throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties, only about one person in five is in the habit of making a connection to an on-line service. Among those who do, electronic mail is a much more common use than the online forums. Results for Orange and Los Angeles counties unless otherwise noted.

* Have you ever heard of the Internet? (If “yes”: Can you describe what it is?)

Correct answer: 71%

No: 17%

Has to do with computers: 10%

Incorrect answer: 2%

* Do you or anyone in your household ever use the modem to connect to the Internet, computer bulletin boards, information services such as Compuserve or America Online, or other computers at other locations?

Respondent only: 10%

Respondent/other: 9%

Other only: 2%

No modem/no computer/no use: 79%

Asked of modem users:

* Do you ever send or receive e-mail, or electronic mail?

Every day: 27%

3-5 days per week: 24%

1-2 days per week: 15%

Once every few weeks: 10%

Less often: 4%

No, never: 20%