[Air-l] E-mail versus Web Time/Behavior

[Steven Clift]

I have seen a number of statistics on the fact that people use e-mail more 
often than any other online resource.  While reports on the time and places 
spent on web are plentiful, what I haven't found are studies on the average 
amount of user time spent reading and/or replying to e-mail (or other forms non-
web browsing of Internet activity.)  

How much _time_ does an average U.S. (or other country) Net user spend using 
e-mail at home or work?  How much time does an average worker with Net access 
spend on personal e-mail versus work e-mail during work hours?  What are the 
difference between different age groups and other demographic factors?
 
On a typical at-home or work computer screen, what window is on top and for 
what amount of time is each top window being used?

Neilsen says that home Internet users average 12 hours a month on the web 
<http://pm.netratings.com/nnpm/owa/NRpublicreports.usagemonthly> and at-work 
users 27 hours in December 2002.  I wonder how much of this "web" time is 
actually being spent on web-based e-mail? 

Finally, are there studies on what people do with their e-mail?  What kind of 
e-mails do people actually read, reply to, delete, forward, save/file, print, 
etc.?  I have seen some studies on opt-in e-mail newsletters click-throughs 
<http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge/trend/email.asp>, is there anything on 
related e-mail topics from academia?

Please reply to: clift at publicus.net

Steven Clift
Visiting Fellow, Institute for New Media Studies
University of Minnesota

P.S. I have had a great month as a fellow at the University of Minnesota.  This 
short-term visiting fellow model has a lot of mutually beneficial potential.  
Check out the details from this month <http://www.publicus.net/fellow> and let 
me know if you'd like to explore something similar for your institution.





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Please reply to: clift at publicus.net
Steven Clift
http://www.publicus.net