05/03/2009, 11:48 PM
Quote:German twenty-somethings prefer internet access to their partner- Source: [news.com.au]
TWENTY-SOMETHINGS in Germany would ditch their spouses and do without a car in a heartbeat if it came to choosing between having them or web access, an industry study has found.
About 83 per cent of respondents aged 19 to 29 said they would rather do without their partner or an automobile than forego their internet connection, in a survey of 1000 people by broadband association Bitkom.
Living without a mobile phone was also unthinkable for 97 per cent of respondents in that age range.
Nevertheless, Bitkom president August-Wilhelm Scheer said that did not mean that "the web is an anonymous medium that leads to social indifference".
One of the main themes at this year's annual tech trade fair CeBit in Hanover is what the organisers have dubbed "webciety", short for world wide web society.
One in two survey respondents said they had made new friends thanks to chat forums and internet communities. About 8 per cent said they had found a new partner online.
"The web creates real relationships and does not result in autism and dehumanisation," said Mr Scheer, who admitted he gets nervous when he does not have internet access while on vacation.
Still, he said, there was a digital divide in Germany that needed to be bridged.
"There's a gap and it's not with 30-year-olds or 40-year-olds it's with those 50 years of age and above," Mr Scheer said.
The way people in their forties and those in their twenties used the web did not differ much, Mr Scheer said, but the difference to someone in their mid-fifties was significant.
"One of the main challenges in society today is to ensure that all age groups are up to par when it comes to the internet," he said.
