Newsgroup, chat, the exchange of music clips, photos and all manner of gossip and information is now exchanged one to one, one to many and many to many all the time.

In the UK in mid 1999, it was the primary use for the Internet for over 2 million people every day. Newsgroups , e-mail discussion lists and Internet chat are very important. They allow anyone to seek anyone with a common interest or view among, currently 190 million people. These groupings can become consumer groups, pressure groups, opinion forming groups and political activists.

Internet shopping sites are now emerging at the top of search listings and it is no great surprise to find that Internet auctions such as www.ebay.com are much sought after in this interactive society. On closer examination we find the subjects people look for are very much about life interest. Different search engines have different search profiles. GoTo listed: games, travel, music, sport, jobs, software, map, chat and casino at the most sought for subjects. It may come as a surprise to find that these are hardly nerdish interests but are about ordinary daily life. And sex searches are proportionately on the decline, perhaps as a result of the changing demographics of the new wave of Internet users (18-35 women, children and older men).

Among demographic groups with the highest access are Corporate executives. According to Anderson Consulting, senior executives have become wired. 99% of Canadian Executives have access to the Web while only 97 have access in the UK. In
the UK 71% of executives use the Internet at least once per week (up from 51% in 1998) but only 31% feel comfortable using it. Here is a group that has joined the Internet Society but does not seem to be part of it when compared to the weekly 20
hours of most Netzines.

When looking at Internet behaviour, we should not forget its breadth. Search engines are aimed at different Netzines. www.disinfo.com, for example, offers a ‘different spin on news stories and searches. Yahoo may be big but there is a host of alternatives for the 190 million on-line world-wide.

As in all societies, different people expect and do different things. Keeping up with new ideas and trends is hard. The BBC announced that its ‘News at One’ current affairs programme was to be Webcast in 1999, Web enabled telephony is beginning to take off already. Yes, a year in the Internet Society is a very long time.