"Here is a puzzle for you: Is technology catching up with our interests? Or are our interests changing to match the technology?

Consider that perusing the Internet is a commonplace daily ritual in American society - whether at work or play. And consider, too, that this rather "ordinary" activity was considered highly extraordinary just a decade ago.

Our digital relationship with the Internet has come on fast and strong. But how exactly do we spend our time on the Web?

A new Pew Research Center study says that more and more people are searching - using massive engines like Google and Yahoo and more discrete, site-specific ones, too.

"Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of Internet users who search on a typical day grew 69 percent from January 2002, when the Pew Internet & American Life Project first tracked this activity, to May 2008, when the current data were collected," said the study, released Aug. 6. "During the same six- year time period, the use of e-mail on a typical day rose from 52 percent to 60 percent, a growth rate of 15 percent."

"Underscoring the dramatic increase over time, the percentage of Internet users who search on a typical day grew 69 percent from January 2002, when the Pew Internet & American Life Project first tracked this activity, to May 2008, when the current data were collected," said the study, released Aug. 6. "During the same six- year time period, the use of e-mail on a typical day rose from 52 percent to 60 percent, a growth rate of 15 percent."


Many news sites move articles into data bases after a period of time and then offer them for sale, in the process changing the URLs that link to them. Or they require registration. Thus, we provide a link to the front page of the news website and the information necessary to find the story on that site, rather than a direct link to the article.

Read More