A survey for Google Israel by research company Market Watch found that 60% of Israeli men would rather stop communicating with their mothers than give up their Internet connection, compared with 47% of the women. 30% of those surveyed believe that their children would prefer the Internet to them, and the percentage rises with the age of the child. 58% of parents with children aged 16 or higher believe that their children would prefer doing without their parents for a week to doing without the Internet for a week, and 12% of those surveyed believe their spouses would prefer doing without them for a week to doing without the Internet for a week, including 18% of the women surveyed.
The study also found that 38% of those surveyed believe that their best friend would prefer not seeing them for a month to doing without the Internet.
The study included a sample representative of the Hebrew-speaking Jewish population in Israel of 511 men and women aged 18 or more. The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population was underrepresented in the sample, and the Arab population was not included in the sample at all.
The study also attempted to discover how willing people would be to forego basic capabilities and actions in daily life in favor of remaining hooked up the Internet. 67% would stop talking for a week and 42% would forego hearing. The study also found that 20% of those surveyed would give up their sight for a week, rather than give up the Internet, although it is hard to imagine how they could surf the Internet without being able to see.
Almost half of the women would give up sex for a year in order to stay connected to the Internet, while only a quarter of the men would do so. From a monthly perspective, however, 72% of surfers would give up sex for a month for the Internet, and 84% of the women.
Errands on the Internet, but not shopping
The study examined where adults aged 18 or more in the Jewish population would prefer to perform basic actions: online or off-line. The audience for online bill paying was the largest, with 72% preferring to pay their municipal taxes, and gas and telephone bills through the Internet to physical payment or payment by phone. The proportion of people preferring to buy computer equipment online equaled the proportion preferring online payment.
Only 12% said they preferred buying food and clothing online, while 60% preferred buying them in physical stores. 65% preferred face-to-face financial advice or by telephone to using the Internet for this purpose, and 80% preferred seeing a doctor to online medical consultation. 6% of those surveyed prefer to say farewell to their long-time partner on the Internet, compared with 89% who preferred to say it in person or by phone.
Only 27% of those sampled said that they updated their Facebook page every day, while 76% agreed with the statement that the Internet was the most important invention in at last the last hundred years. 52% agreed that the Internet was making society atrophy, and 55% agreed that children today are growing up with no social skills because of the Internet and the social networks.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 28, 2014