Americans increasingly going to the internet for help with big decisions in life

Nearly half of internet users in the United States went online for help with major life decisions such as finding a college for their child or looking for a new place to live, according to a survey released yesterday.

The results show the internet is becoming increasingly important to users in their everyday lives, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a non-profit group that conducted the survey.

About 45 per cent of users, or an estimated 60 million Americans, said the internet helped them make big decisions or face a major moment in their life during the previous two years, the survey found.

That was up from 40 per cent of internet users who answered the same survey questions in 2002.

Specifically, the survey asked 2201 adults last month if the internet played a crucial or important role in making at least one of eight major life decisions.

An estimated 21 million Americans turned to the internet when seeking more training for a career, while 17 million used it to choose a school for a family member or to help another person with a major illness, the Pew Internet group said.

About 16 million Americans used the internet when buying a car or making a major investment or financial decision, it said. An estimated 10 million Americans used the internet when looking for a new place to live, eight million when changing jobs, and seven million when dealing with their own major illness or health condition, the survey said.

"It seems likely that the convenience of broadband draws more users to the internet to deal with some decision," the Pew Internet group said.

Better online content and more widely advertised websites may also contribute to the rising use of the internet, it said.

- REUTERS