Distracted browsing wastes two days a month

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 11 April 2007 13:07

Your IT - Home IT

A British survey has found two out of three web users lose a significant amount of time when browsing takes them off at a tangent to their original goal.

Online market research agency YouGov found almost one quarter of browsers estimate they spend more than 30 percent of their time surfing aimlessly, which equates to two workdays per month.

"Although people log on with a purpose, they are now being offered so much choice and online distraction that many forget what they are there for, and spend hours aimlessly wilfing instead," said Jason Lloyd, broadband channel manager at Wales-based moneysupermarket.com, which commissioned the research.
 
Men are more prone to this affliction than women, and - perhaps contrary to stereotypes - over 55s are three times less likely to be distracted than under 25s.

The practice has become known as 'wilfing' - from 'what  was I looking for?' Common distractions include shopping and (especially for men) 'adult' sites. Other research suggests sports and gambling sites can also be implicated.

Apart from the waste of personal and working time involved, more than a third of respondents reported that their surfing habits had led to criticism from their partners.