FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   	December 12, 1995


Georgia Tech Releases Results of 4th World-Wide Web User Survey
     
	ATLANTA--Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) 
researchers have found that the average World-Wide Web user is
slightly younger, less "techy," and has a higher income, than revealed in
their previous surveys.     

	The findings are from Georgia Tech's Graphic, Visualization, &
Usability Center's (GVU) 4th WWW User Survey. More than 23,000
unique responses were collected to eight sets of questionnaires,
including: general demographics, WWW browser usage, authoring
information, consumer attitudes & preferences and Web service
providers. The survey, which ran from October 10 through November
10, was endorsed by both the World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and
the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and INRIA. 

	The GVU Center research team identified the differences
between weekend and weekday Web users. Results show there are
more younger and older weekend users than weekday users, and
weekend users make slightly more money (more of them with salaries
above $100,000). In addition, weekend users are less likely to be in
computer-related jobs. In comparison, the weekday user composed more
than 80% of the responses, with most gaining access via work or
school, and are less likely to spend recreational time at a computer.  

	The 4th WWW survey also compared European and U.S. Web
users. The results show that European users are likely to be younger
(29.6 median age), and are students with less  income, as well as
indicate higher representation from computer and educational fields.
Pitkow said, "Compared to European users, U.S. users are older and
indicate a stronger presence of the professional and management types
with an average income above $50,000, but also point to lower
educational attainment."     

	Another component of the survey compared female and male
users. Researcher Colleen Kehoe explained, "Female users are younger
(31.8 median age) with a strong presence from education and college
users, but are less willing to disclose income and indicate a less
technical background. Meanwhile, male users are older (33.1 median
age) and are typically employed in the computer industry. They also
spend more time computing and indicate higher income levels. In addition,
they have spent more years on the Internet."	

        The researchers are presenting their results today, December
12, at the 4th International World-Wide Web Conference.  Results from
the 4th Survey as well as the results from the three previous surveys 
also available from:

     http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-10-1995/ 

	The survey covered a wide range of topics, including basic user
demographics, user preferences and usage patterns, plus consumer
attitudes toward commercialization and electronic commerce. Because
the respondents were not randomly selected from the total population of
Web users, the information lacks the vigor of a true scientific survey.
However, the data collected provides one of the best available pictures 
of who is using the Web.

	The 3rd survey, results released in July, gathered information
from more than 13,000 WWW users. This study is believed to be the first
to examine the impact of Web access provided through major national
services such as Prodigy.

	"With the ever increasing acceptance of the Web by the general
population, timely information about its users and usage is of paramount
importance," said James E. Pitkow, the survey originator and researcher
at Georgia Tech's GVU Center. "By conducting the surveys using the
Web, we reach the real Web users. Our surveys have become an important 
data source for academics, business, and reporters, and remain a public 
service whose results are available free via the Web."                       

For more information contact:

GVU's WWW User Survey Team
Graphics, Visualization, & Usability (GVU) Center, 
College of Computing, Georgia Tech 
404-894-9634 (W) 
www-survey@cc.gatech.edu

Toni Lynn Mills, 
Georgia Tech Communications
404-894-8324 (W) 
toni.mills@vpea.gatech.edu