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8 in 10 Online Americans Use Internet for Hobby-related Activities

More than 8 in 10 (83%) online Americans say they have used the internet to look for information about their hobbies, and 29% say they go online on a typical day for hobby-related activities, according to (pdf) research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Online hobby-related activity is on par with shopping, surfing the web for fun, and getting news, Pew said. Hobby activities can range from genealogical research to collecting to online gaming.

According to the Pew telephone survey conducted in February-March 2007:

• The online hobby population has grown from some 45% of US adults in 2005 to 59% in the first quarter of 2007.
• The proportion of those who on a typical day go online for hobby-related activity has increased from about 12% to 20% of all adults, during the same period.

• The figure of 83% of online hobbyists in March 2007 compares with Nov. 2004 findings of 77% of internet users’ having used the internet to search for information about a hobby, and 20% having done so on a typical day.
• Men under age 50 and those with home broadband are among the most likely to pursue hobbies online.

• 86% of internet users age 18-29 and 88% of those age 30-49 go online to pursue hobbies.
• 77% of internet users age 50-64 and 62% of those age 65+ go online to pursue hobbies.
• 89% of respondents with home broadband use the internet to find information about hobbies.
• On a typical day, one-third of online men, one-third of internet users in their 20s, and 38% of college-educated internet users pursue hobbies online.