there's hope for some of us

[Doug Millison]

Internet 'loners' enjoy social whirl
======================
People who use the internet at home, far from being the isolated, geeky
nerds that they are popularly painted to be, are in fact highly social
animals, according the latest British Social Attitudes Survey, an annual
large-scale snapshot of British attitudes and behaviour.

The study found that internet users attend church more, join voluntary
organisations more, are more likely to have friends they can rely on in
times of troubles, read more books, and are not less trusting of other
people. In contrast, they spend more than an hour a day less watching
television than those who do not use the internet.

The study confirmed a wide digital divide. If you have a university
degree you are eight times more likely to use the web than somebody
without any educational qualifications. Those earning E51,500 a year or
more are five times more likely to use it than those on E16,000 a year.

Financial Times, 2001-11-26
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3U04GAEUC&live=tr
ue&tagid=FTDDMJNIFEC