Britons speak their minds online

The internet is no longer just for casual surfing and information gathering. In Britain it's now a means for speaking one's mind and bringing together communities.

One quarter of broadband users in the UK have personal websites while 18 per cent post something online every day and just over half post comments and opinion on others' websites, according to new research commissioned by AOL from think-tank Demos.

John Craig, co-author of the report, Broadband Britain: The end of asymmetry?, said in a statement that broadband is shifting power from institutions and putting it "into the hands of the individual".

Internet use is becoming ever more pervasive in Britons' live with 59 per cent of broadband users saying they log on before breakfast and 21 per cent surfing in the middle of the night.

Communication is still the 'killer app' for broadband, though, as 81 per cent of UK broadband customers admitted email allows them to stay in touch with people with whom they otherwise would lose contact.

Broadband's used for both one-to-one contact and for organising offline parties and other gatherings - over a quarter of respondents engage in the latter.

The report also revealed regional differences in broadband use. The Scottish have the most online friends, Londoners are most likely to post content online and Southerners log on earliest and latest in the day.

A separate study from JupiterResearch, released last week, confirmed the pervasiveness of broadband, saying it is eating into time previously spent watching TV and reading newspapers.