BT To Research ‘Web Fear’

Telecoms giant BT is to carry out research into the reasons why some people shy away from using the internet.

According to a BBC report, psychologists will study a small group of people to analyse the reasons behind their fear of using the web.

Preliminary testing has found that for some people, using the internet triggers stress levels comparable with doing a bungee jump.

“More often the barriers are internal, stemming from a fear of the technology,” said Dr David Lewis, lead psychologist for the project.

Four people taking part in the study will be given a broadband link, a laptop, webcam and digital camera and their responses to such technology will be monitored closely by a team of experts. They will undertake two months of training to introduce them to the web and how they can use it.

Gavin Patterson, a spokesman for BT added: “The gap between the competent internet user and those who have never been online has never been greater.”

Figures released by industry regulator Ofcom show that 39% of people in the UK do not have internet access.

However, according to BMRB, the number of internet users now stands at nearly 30.2 million for the second quarter of 2007.

As internet usage broke the 30 million mark for the first time, growth of 9.2% could be observed over the same period last year.

The total number of people going online is now over five million more than it was two years ago (see Online Usage Round-Up Q2 2007: Internet Usage Breaks 30 Million Mark).

BT: 020 7469 2337 www.btplc.com