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Report on SmartGirls On The Web!
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
Even though we know you wish you could spend all your online time on SmartGirl (wink wink), we started getting curious as to what else you do when you sign on to the Web. To figure it out, we put together this survey asking you all about your Internet habits. Read on to learn about SmartGirls on the Web!
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Lots of people took this survey, and everyone came from different backgrounds. Check out these quick stats to see who our respondents were!
476 people took this survey.
455 of those respondents are girls, 11 are boys and 10 didn't tell us their gender.
Ages ranged from 7 to older than 22. More 12 and 13 year olds took this survey than people of any other age.
43% of respondents are the oldest child in their family, 16% are the middle child, 26% are the youngest and about 12% are only kids.
The greatest number of respondents live in a town, and the least live in a village.
10% of respondents are of African descent, 7% are of Asian descent, 31% are of European descent, 4% are of Latin American descent, 3% are of Middle Eastern descent, 3% are of Native American descent, 1% are of Oceania/Pacific Islander descent and 9% are of multiracial descent. The rest of you didn't care to share!
People from all over the world logged on to tell us about their Internet habits. We had respondents from Australia, Panama, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland and Haiti, just to name a few! Whew!
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This section of our summary looks at some of the basic facts about SmartGirl Internet use. Check it out!
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| How many years have you been using the Internet? |
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| Wow! This graphs shows that biggest number of SmartGirls have been using the Internet for 5 years or more! |
Where do you use the Internet?
444 of you use the Internet at home
330 of you access the Web at school
229 hop online at a friend's house
184 log on at the library
97 of you can access the Internet wherever you want using your mobile phone, PDA or laptop
31 get on the Net at a cybercafe
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| Who in your household knows the most about the Internet? |
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| My oh my, aren't our SmartGirls Web savvy? Looks like almost half of you are the Net experts in your home. |
Some notes to help you read these graphs better!
In the pie graph above, "guardian" includes moms, dads, and other guardians.
In the bar graph below, here's what the labels mean:
under30m = You spend less than 30 minutes online daily
30min-1hr = You spend 30 minutes to 1 hour online everyday
+1hr-2 = You spend more than 1 hour but less than 2 hours online everyday
2-3hrs = You spend 2 to 3 hours online daily
+3hrs-4 = You spend more than 3 hours but less than 4 hours online everyday
4hrs+ = You spend more than 4 hours online daily
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| How much time do you average online everyday? |
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| Check this out! Looks like most of you spend more than 30 minutes online every day, while a pretty big number of you still don't sign on daily. |
| What do you spend time doing online? |
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count | percent |
whatdoonline
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| Email |
347 | 13.31 |
| Instant messaging |
263 | 10.09 |
| Chatting in chat rooms |
114 | 4.37 |
| Surfing websites |
431 | 16.53 |
| Playing games |
306 | 11.74 |
| Shopping |
81 | 3.11 |
| Reading blogs |
136 | 5.22 |
| Writing blogs |
119 | 4.56 |
| Making my own website |
130 | 4.99 |
| Creating online photo albums |
61 | 2.34 |
| Looking at other people's pics |
144 | 5.52 |
| Using online social networks |
147 | 5.64 |
| Research and homework |
297 | 11.39 |
| Taking surveys or quizzes |
6 | 0.23 |
| Listening to music |
4 | 0.15 |
| Other stuff! |
21 | 0.81 |
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SmartGirls certainly do a lot when they're online! We knew we'd get a big list, so we wanted to narrow it down a bit more and ask what one thing do you spend the MOST time doing online? Here's the breakdown in order from most popular thing to do online to least popular:
1. Surf websites (123 people)
2. Instant message (105 people)
3. Email or play games (tied with 53 people)
4. Use online social networking sites (26 people)
5. Do research or your homework (25 people)
6. Chat in chat rooms (16 people)
7. Shop or create your own website (tied with 10 people)
8. Read blogs (5 people)
9. Write blogs (3 people)
10. Look at other people's photos online (1 person)
11. Create online photo albums (0 people)
*26 people indicated their favorite thing to do online was something not listed here*
I think you'll all agree that there are a lot of categories there! Another thing to consider is that some of those categories are pretty complicated. In order to fully understand what you're up to online, we broke some of those categories down one by one.
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Instant Messaging has been very popular since it emerged online. We wondered how much time you spend IMing when you're online, so we asked, "How long are you logged into an instant messenger program (AIM, MSN Messenger, etc.) on the average day?" Here's what you told us:
36% of you don't spend any time IMing on the average day.
12% of you spend less than 30 minutes logged onto IM.
13% of you use IM between 30 minutes and 1 hour.
10% of you are logged onto IM more than one hour but less than two hours.
12% of you use IM between 2 and 3 hours on the average day.
4% of you spend more than 3 hours but less than 4 hours on IM.
12% of you use IM for more than 4 hours a day!
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The next two questions deal with blogs - personal websites that may be made up of news, comments, journals or thoughts written by their creator.
Check out the pie graph below to find out whether SmartGirl users make blogs and/or read blogs. Here's some help decoding the responses:
Yes, Yes = Yes, I have my own blog and yes, I read other people's blogs too!
No, Yes = No, I don't have my own blog but I read other people's!
Yes, No = Yes, I have my own blog but I don't read other people's!
No, No = No, I don't have my own blog and I don't read other people's either.
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| Do you have your own blog or read other people's blogs? |
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| While most of you don't have your own blog, most of you also indicate that you read other people's blogs online. |
Looks like lots of our respondents check out other blogs when they're online. We wanted to know how much time you spend making the blog circuit every day. Check out what you had to say:
How much time do you spend on blogs (reading others' or writing your own) during the average day?
252 of you don't look at blogs on a daily basis.
144 of you spend under 30 minutes on blogs on the the average day.
45 of you are on blogs between 30 minutes and one hour.
17 of you look at blogs for more than an hour but less than 2 hours on the average day.
10 of you spend between 2 and 3 hours on blogs.
5 of you are on blogs more than 3 hours but less than 4 hours.
5 of you are on blogs for four hours or more!
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In the past few years, social networking sites have exploded in popularity. These are sites that allow you to create online networks of people you know. We wanted to find out how many of you are members of social networking sites and which sites you are members of, so we asked the following question:
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| What online social networks are you a member of? |
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count | percent |
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socialnet
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| No social networking site |
236 | 48.76 |
| MySpace |
131 | 27.07 |
| Facebook |
18 | 3.72 |
| Xanga |
11 | 2.27 |
| Friendster |
5 | 1.03 |
| Bebo |
19 | 3.93 |
| Tagged |
3 | 0.62 |
| Hi5 |
8 | 1.65 |
| LiveJournal |
2 | 0.41 |
| Some other social network site! |
51 | 10.54 |
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| About half of you are members of a social networking site and about half of you aren't! |
Some people say that social networking sites can be very addictive because they allow you to look up people you know and find out about them. How much time do SmartGirls average on these sites?
How much time do you spend on online social networks during the average day?
289 of you don't spend any time on social network sites on the average day.
62 of you spend less than 30 minutes on a social network.
52 of you spend 30 minutes to an hour.
35 of you are logged onto these sites more than one hour but less than 2 hours.
17 of you are signed on to social networks between 2 and 3 hours on the average day.
6 of you spend more than 3 hours but less than 4 hours on these sites.
14 of you are logged onto a social network for 4 hours or more!
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With the introduction of social networking sites came the opportunity to post personal photos online, so we wondered how many SmartGirls participate in posting photos on the Internet. Check out the graph below to see how often SmartGirls put their personal pictures out online:
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| Do you post your own pictures online (like through Webshots, MySpace, Ofoto, Facebook, LiveJournal, etc.)? |
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| That's great! It looks like many of you are very conscious of your privacy online. |
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Everything you've told us shows that SmartGirls certainly are Internet-masters, but are they webmasters too? We wanted to know if you have ever made your own website, and if so, what you used to make your site. Check out what we found out!
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| What have you used to create a website of your own? |
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count | percent |
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ownsite2
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| I've never made my own site |
264 | 49.35 |
| HTML -Hyper Text Markup Language |
64 | 11.96 |
| DreamWeaver |
52 | 9.72 |
| AOL |
87 | 16.26 |
| Piczo |
22 | 4.11 |
| FreeWebs |
10 | 1.87 |
| Google |
2 | 0.37 |
| I used something else |
34 | 6.36 |
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| Looks like lots of you have learned how to make your own websites. Sweet! |
One of the most important things to keep in mind while you're hanging out online is your personal privacy. The Internet is great because it allows you to really explore the world, but at the same time, it can be bad because it can expose you to things you shouldn't see or it can put you in a position where someone else might be able to find out personal information about you. That's why it's really important to take the right steps to protect your safety online. Check out the following questions to see how other SmartGirls deal with online safety and protecting their privacy. To read more or find more suggestions on how to protect yourself, you can also visit the following websites:
Kidz Privacy
CyberSmart!
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| Who do you think *regularly* looks at your online information (away messages, profiles, pictures, blogs, websites, etc.)? |
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| Even if you think only people you know look at your information online, there's a possibility someone else might be looking too. Learn how to protect yourself! |
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That is especially true if you use a universal messaging service like AIM or if you are a member of a social networking site. One thing you can do protect yourself is set privacy limits on you buddy list and online profiles. Then only the people you know can see your information. Check out the graph below to see how many SmartGirls already use this really smart way of protecting their privacy:
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| Do you have privacy limits on what you do online (like blocks on your buddy list, restrictions on your profile or pictures, etc.)? |
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| The majority of you have privacy limits set on at least a few things you do online. |
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Privacy limits really help to keep strangers from finding out your personal information online. We wondered how many of you have ever been contacted by a stranger online, and how that person got in touch with you. The next graph shows you what we found out:
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| How have strangers contacted you online? |
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| It looks like almost half of this survey's respondents haven't been contacted by a stranger online. |
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Now that we know how strangers have gotten in touch with you, we wanted to know if you have ever contacted a stranger online. You can look at the next graph to see how SmartGirls have gotten in touch with people they don't know, but keep in mind that contacting strangers online isn't always a safe idea. If you're going to contact someone online, make sure you're in a safe environment (like a site like SmartGirl) so that your personal information isn't a risk. As much as we all wish everyone would be honest, sometimes people lie about their age or who they are so it's important to stay safe!
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| How have you contacted people you don't know online? |
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| Again, it looks like about half of you haven't contacted a stranger online. |
So what happened to these online contacts? We asked our survey takers to let us know how far they have taken a friendship or relationship with a person they met online.
202 said they have never been in an online friendship or relationship.
198 told us they have only talked to their online friend online.
29 let us know that they have talked to their online friend on the phone.
25 told us they have met their online friend in person.
Don't forget! No matter how well you think you know a person online, it's not a good idea to meet them in person when you're by yourself. If you want to meet an online friend, you should always always always talk to a parent about it first and bring your parent along if the meeting does happen. Remember your safety!
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Some people believe that putting restrictions on online behavior is the best way to protect people online. We wondered who restricts what you do online.
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| Who restricts your online behavior? |
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count | percent |
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who
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| No one |
143 | 21.63 |
| My parents |
268 | 40.54 |
| My school |
117 | 17.7 |
| The websites themselves |
90 | 13.62 |
| Myself |
32 | 4.84 |
| Other things do |
11 | 1.66 |
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| This graph shows that parents are the biggest online restrictors. |
Now that we know that some of you do have restrictions placed on you online, we wanted to know in what ways you're restricted. Here's what you told us:
How is your online behavior restricted?
205 of you are not allowed to post certain information about yourself
204 of you are not allowed to access certain websites
84 of you are not allowed to be online for more than a certain amount of time
13 of you are not allowed to use instant messagers or chat rooms
15 of you indicated that you are restricted in other ways
145 of you told us you're not restricted at all
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Finally, we wondered how much your parents, teacher or other guardians actually know about what you do online. Check out the table below to see what you told us:
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| How much do your parents, teachers, or other guardians know about your online behavior? |
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count | percent |
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knowmuch2
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| They know everything I do online |
147 | 33.11 |
| Not everything but think they do |
206 | 46.4 |
| Not everything but don't care |
91 | 20.5 |
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No matter how cool the Internet is, it's not perfect! We asked you to let us know what you would change about it. Here's what you had to say:
Well, I would like a computer with a touch screen!
I wish there were no pop-ups, viruses, trojans, spyware, and hackers.
It would have something that could tell if a person was lying about their age, name, and what not, so kids can be safer.
I would make it safer. There are so many creeps out there. For teens who give away too much info, that could be it. I think it's scary! That's why I NEVER give out ANY personal information online.
I'd like to make it that information available on websites was more accurate, because it cannot be always relied on. It would also be nice to make the internet safer for children because it is a valuable source of information and helpful, but sometimes privacy and safety can be an issue.
I wish you could log on to one site and do everything you want to (e-mail, shop, play games, and chat).
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I would make it that to have a website you needed a permit or something, so that certain people couldn't make websites because they are bad or racist or insulting to people. I would also get rid of chat rooms and only have Instant Messaging, as then you can choose who to have on your contacts without worrying about other people trying to talk to you.
I wish you didnt have to pay for it!
I would change how much information you are allowed to post on MySpace and Facebook. I would change this because people get hurt when they put up too much information on those sites. By changing that people would be much safer and happier.
Search engines would be easier to use!!
Make everyone's Internet automatically high-speed because it's faster (duh!), and you can be on the phone at the same time.
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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
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