Online Vs Real Life Opinion?
Jan 20, 2010
Figures from the China Internet Network Information Center this week showed that China's population of Internet users soared nearly 30 percent last year to 384 million. That means there are more regular net users in China than the entire population of the United States.
And given that reach, today, more and more of the survey's that gage public opinion are carried out almost exclusively online. Gathering opinion in this way is cheap, efficient, and above all fast.
The speed with which information travels over the internet means that opinion polls and public reaction can be gathered in a fraction of the time it used to take. And, in a society where, for political and cultural reasons, people tend to be very wary about offering their opinion, internet surveys have another advantage - the safety of anonymity.
But can that cloak of anonymity also lead to distortion of true feelings? To just what extent does online opinion represent real-life opinions gathered in more traditional ways?
Tags: Internet User Population,Real Life,Net User,Internet Survey