Over half of public surfs Web, survey finds

35% of religious Israelis use the Web compared to 70% of secular Israelis.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
internet logo 88 (photo credit: )
internet logo 88
(photo credit: )
Two-thirds of Israeli adults are on-line, and 56 percent of the public surf the Internet - with 12% using their connection for e-mail or not using their connection often - according to the latest survey by Tel Aviv University's Netvision Institute for Internet research. The national representative sample of 500 people over 18, conducted by the Smith Institute (with a sampling error of +/-4.5%), also found that 35% of those who use the Internet watch videos on-line, with 21% doing so at least one hour per week. The average amount of time spent on Internet surfing is nine hours a week. Of those surveyed, 11% are "heavy" surfers, spending at least 15 hours a week on-line. Fully 48% of women with an on-line computer surf, beating out men, 45% of whom are surfers. The younger a person is, the more likely he or she is to use the Internet; nonetheless, over a third of people over 50 surf the Web, the survey found. The questionnaire did not put haredim and modern Orthodox in separate categories, but found that 35% of religious Israelis use the Web (or at least admit to using it), compared to 47% of traditional and 70% of secular Israelis. In addition, the higher one's education and income, the more likely one is to use the Internet and do so frequently. Men are more likely to watch videos on-line, with 44% of them saying they do, compared to 29% of women. Surprisingly 39% of Orthodox and haredi Jews watch videos on-line, which is higher than the national average - apparently because many of them do not have TV sets at home. People who have not gone to college, those with an average income, men, and young people up to 29 are most likely to watch videos on-line. Those who don't use the Internet much for watching videos explained that they were turned off because there aren't enough interesting things to see; the quality is low, or it can't be viewed well; the scenes are erratic rather than streaming; or technical problems such as installation and registration bother them.