Information found online is important, but less trustworthy

Americans who use the Internet consider it at least as important as newspapers and books, and more important than television, radio and magazines, according to a new survey. But they've also become more skeptical of what they find online.

The third annual nationwide survey of 2,000 households found Internet users are spending more time online and that they watch less television than nonusers.

Overall, Internet users are averaging 11 hours per week online, up by more than an hour from a year earlier.

About 61 percent find the Net "very" or "extremely" important as an information source. That compares with 60 percent for books and 58 percent for newspapers, within the survey's margin for error of 3 percentage points.

By comparison, just half the Internet users find television important, 40 percent think that of radio and 29 percent of magazines.

"When you need real information you always go to the library," said Yale University junior Ralph Byrd, 20.

Only 53 percent of users believe most or all of what they read online, down from 58 percent a year earlier, according to the survey being released today by the Center for Communication Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. Nearly a quarter of those concerned about using credit cards online say nothing can ease their fears.

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission said complaints about identity theft doubled last year, with victims reporting hijacked credit cards, drained bank accounts and tarnished reputations.

"I don't think anyone wants to see this medium become the equivalent of advertising, where people take everything they see with a grain of salt," said Beau Brendler, director of the nonprofit Consumer WebWatch online credibility project.

The UCLA center conducted the study from April to June. It also found that among the most experienced users -- those online at least six years -- 73 percent found the Internet important, exceeding the 67 percent for books and 57 percent for newspapers.

-- Newcomers with less than a year of experience consider books, newspapers and television more important than the Internet.

-- Nearly 30 percent of Americans do not use the Net, most commonly because they don't have a computer or one good enough. But nearly half the nonusers say they are likely to go online within a year.

-- Internet users averaged five hours less TV each week than nonusers. The Internet users watched 11 hours per week of TV, or one hour less than in 2001.

-- Some 37 percent of parents say they have punished their kids by denying them access to the Internet. Forty-six percent used television as a similar punishment tool.

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On the Net:

UCLA: http://www.ucla.edu

Consumer WebWatch: http://www.consumerwebwatch.org