More Socializing Than Holiday Buying Online

Despite all the hype surrounding electronic commerce this holiday season, it turns out more people went online to socialize and celebrate than to shop.

A new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than 51 million people, or 53% of all Internet users, relied on e-mail to discuss holiday plans with friends and relatives. In addition, more than 30 million people, or 32% of Net users, sent electronic holiday cards to their loved ones. In contrast, only 22 million people, or 24% of Net users, actually purchased gifts online.

Still, 45% of those surveyed said they went online to get gift ideas, and 32% said they used the Web to compare prices. In addition, 14% of Net users researched religious traditions on the Internet.

“People value having control when they are online, and they believe that they retain a large measure of that when they are sending e-mails, online greeting cards or searching for information about holiday traditions,” said John Horrigan, who wrote the Pew report. “Online shopping means relying on other people or systems to safely transmit the credit card data, pack the right size and color in the box, and get it to a destination on time.”