Americans overwhelmingly agree that the Internet is more like a library than any other medium. They are looking for information.

                                All Americans    Users       Non-Users

Library                            51%            61%           36%

Meeting place                  11%            10%           12%

Shopping mall                  10%            10%           10%

School                             6%               6%              6%

Peep show                       3%               1%              5%

Party                               2%                2%             3%   

Bank                               1%                1%              2%

All of the above               5%                 4%             5%

Other/don't know            11%              5%              20%

Base: 3,533, March-May 2002.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

Non-Users Most Likely to Come Online to Research. Among the non-users, 40 percent said they would eventually join the online masses, with 31 percent of that segment indicating they would most likely use the Net for research. Communicating through e-mail, IM, or chat was the draw for 11 percent of non-users, and shopping appealed to 7 percent.