More teens online than ever before
The number of teenagers using the Internet has grown 24 percent in the past four years and 87 percent of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online. Compared to four years ago, teens’ use of the Internet has intensified and broadened as they log on more often and do more things when they are online, according to a research report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
E-mail is seen as a tool for communicating with “adults” such as teachers, institutions like schools, and as a way to convey lengthy and detailed information to large groups, the researchers found. Meanwhile, instant messaging is used for everyday conversations with friends that range from casual to more serious and private exchanges.
Pew said two-thirds of U.S. adults now use the Internet. The research was conducted in October and November of 2004. PDF of the report: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/ PIP—Teens—Tech—July2005web.pdf.
More outlets for bloggers
In another example of mainstream media cozying up to blogging, Tribune Media Services said it will distribute content from the Huffington Post Web log this fall (huffingtonpost.com). A feature, about 750 words, will be offered Tuesdays and Thursday, including two op-ed-length entries and a few blog excerpts, according to Editor & Publisher.
Earlier this week, Newsweek magazine and CNET News began linking to bloggers’ comments about news items or magazine stories.
A beta trial syndicating Huffington material was conducted in June and July. Tribune said it was surprised to learn papers didn’t feel they could use it. “It was a question of available space,” John Twohey, TMS vice president for editorial and operations, told E&P.
RSS, podcasting still Greek to us
New technologies such as Really Simple Syndication and podcasting have gotten a lot of notice from reporters but they have not won much recognition from readers.
Google News today has 3,660 stories mentioning RSS and 1,980 with the word podcasting in them. But two research reports say public awareness of these terms is small.
The Pew Internet & American Life project found only 9 percent of about 2,000 Americans said they had a good idea of what RSS feeds are, while just 13 percent were familiar with podcasting. Almost 25 percent said they hadn’t heard of either term.
Microsoft tests updated Explorer
Microsoft has begun distributing test versions of an updated Internet Explorer. Features of the new IE 7.0 include tabbed browsing and a tool to alert users when they visits a Web site that may be soliciting personal information for no good reason, according to a report by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The company has not set a release date for a final Explorer update.