Twitter and Facebook were rated much lower, with trust levels of 8 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Google are all more trusted than traditional media, which had a trust level of 8 percent.

While Microsoft, Apple and Google were each trusted by 49%, the percentage expressing little or no trust was higher for Microsoft and Google (both 46%) than it was for Apple (35%).  The percentage of not sure responses was higher for Apple (15%) than for both Google and Microsoft, both 5%.

Adults under 30 had the least trust in Microsoft and Apple. Among those under 30, 34 percent had trust in Microsoft and 41 percent in Apple. That age group’s trust in Facebook (20%) and Twitter (15%) was also higher than that of older age groups.
 

The gap correlates with the finding that the majority of mobile users do not yet download applications to their mobile devices. The same group says they want to be able to choose mobile applications for themselves, and not have their carriers decide what applications they can use. The survey found that people will pay more for a device that will allow them to control applications.

More than half (62%) of users do not yet view their mobile device as an extension of their computer and only 23 percent feel they have more or the same amount of control over their mobile device as they have over their computer.

Scott Durchslag

Nearly three-quarters (70%) have never downloaded an application to their mobile device and 67 percent want to be able to choose their mobile applications for themselves.

Younger adults have a different view of what a mobile device is than their older counterparts.  When asked if they view their mobile device as a phone to make calls on, a computer to access the Internet and download applications, or both, younger respondents were less likely to view their mobile device as just a phone.

"This is a clear call to action for all of us in the communications industry – carriers, device manufacturers, and software companies like Skype – to work together to deliver what the mobile consumer, especially the next generation of device and data plan buyers, obviously want and expect," said Scott Durchslag, Chief Operating Officer of Skype.

"Together, we can bring a rich PC-like communications experience to mobile devices – one that combines voice, video, presence, instant messaging, and file sharing. In doing so, consumers win, and so does the industry as it fuels growth in data minutes and revenues."
 

The survey found that more than half of Americans (70%) think journalism is important to the quality of their communities but 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

Close to half of respondents (48%) said their main source of news and information is the Internet, a 40 percent increase over a year ago. Younger adults were most likely to say the Internet was their main source, 55 percent of those 18 to 29 say they get their news and information online, compared to 35 percent of those 65 and older.

The oldest adults are the only age group to prefer a traditional news source besides the Internet, with 38 percent saying they get their news from television. Overall, 29 percent said they get most of their news from television, 11 percent-cited radios and 10 percent said newspapers.

Only 7 percent of those 18 to 29 years old get their news from newspapers, while more than double (17%) over the age of 65 prefer n newspapers as their main source of information.

Web sites are thought to be a more important source of news, 86 percent of Americans said Web sites were an important source of news. With 56 percent saying that Web sites are very important. The majority also view television (77%), radio (74%) and newspapers (70%) as important sources for news.

 "For the second year in a row we have documented a crisis in American journalism that is far more serious than the industry’s business challenges – or maybe a consequence of them," said Andrew Nachison, co-founder of iFOCOS, a media think tank.
 

The Internet has surpassed radio and television as the main source of candidate information. Forty-seven percent of those polled said the Internet is the primary source of their knowledge of the presidential candidates. Just 31 percent and 13 percent cited television and radio respectively as the primary source.

"The Internet has become the ultimate tool for democracy," said Tim Lordan, executive director of the (CICAC). "The Internet as ‘fundraiser’ has been understood for some time, but the displacement of television and radio as top sources of voter information is a sea change that is destined to advantage the most Internet savvy candidate of the pack."

Concerns over voter fraud shot down the idea for Internet voting with 67 percent saying it was a bad idea. Technology (37%) and privacy/security (28%) placed first and second in issues to be addressed by the next president, health did not rise above third in priority among any demographic including seniors.

Among the age the groups polled, 18-24 year-olds and those over 70 had the most privacy concern over the posting of a drunken photo. In contrast 25-34 year olds were more concerned about the posting of a video of them talking with their friends while 35-54 year-olds were more concerned with the posting of them in a swimsuit.

The Zogby poll surveyed 3,585 adults and was conducted from January 21 to January 23.
 

Regardless, according a poll conducted by Zogby International and 463 Communications, 29 percent of respondents said Internet content should be regulated just like television content, and 24 percent said the government should institute a ratings system like the one used for movies.

Luckily (depending on how you look at it), the overwhelming majority of regulation supporters were over 70. Just 33 percent of 18-24 year-olds thought it was a good idea, while 72 percent of septuagenarians thought so.

“Some view the Internet as their new best friend, others as an increasingly powerful tool that can infect our youth with harmful images and thoughts and therefore must be controlled,” said 463 partner Tom Galvin.

“Our challenge as a society is to let the Internet flourish as a dynamic force in our economy and communities while not chipping away at the fundamental freedoms that created the Internet in the first place.”

But only 36 percent thought government blocking of content would be unconstitutional, so don’t think there might not be support for chipping.

I have an opinion and here it is: Government blocking of any content brings up Constitutional issues as it is, at its fundamental level, making a law abridging freedom of speech.

But also, from a media theory standpoint, there is a big difference between the Internet and television. Television, like radio, is a one-way medium with content transmitted over the airwaves to a passive consumer without regard to the consumer’s ability to filter the messages and/or visual exposure.

The Internet is a two-way medium with active users both consuming and producing content. Consumers have a choice of what to view, and have a choice of what to produce, making the Internet the most democratic medium ever devised on this planet.

And we don’t want the FCC (or AT&T and Verizon and Comcast for that matter) stepping in to discuss whether using the phrase "hamsterbating" is in violation of some arbitrary, culturally and perceptually defined standard.  

 The percentage was highest among singles with 31 percent saying that the Internet could act as a substitute for a significant other. There was no difference between males and females but there was a divide based on political views.

Thirty-one percent of those who considered themselves "progressives" were open to the idea of the Internet acting as a significant other while just 18 percent who said they were "very conservative" would consider it a substitute.

Over half of Americans think that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government. Twenty-nine percent said that video should be regulated like television content and 24 percent said government should have an online rating system similar to that used by the movie industry. Thirty-six percent said that blocking of Internet video would be unconstitutional.

More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile on sites such as MySpace or Facebook. Seventy-eight percent of 18-24 year-olds report having a social networking profile.

Thirty-two percent of Democrats have a social networking presence and 22 percent of Republicans have the same. Just 14 percent say the Internet is an important part of their identity and 68 percent said it’s only how they identify themselves online.

"Some view the Internet as their new best friend, others as an increasingly powerful tool that can infect our youth with harmful images and thoughts and therefore must be controlled," said 463 partner Tom Galvin.

"Our challenge as a society is to let the Internet flourish as a dynamic force in our economy and communities while not chipping away at the fundamental freedoms that created the Internet in the first place."

A quarter of online shoppers plan to spend most of their holiday budget online. That’s an average of $504.52, or almost 40 percent of their overall budget of $1,282.13. In NYC, that budget is $2,137.26, 70 percent of which will be spent online ($1483.36).

The nearest top-20 market, Orlando, will spend just $645.24 of their $1,995.41, while Cleveland residents will devote $577.31, nearly half the $1,200 they’ve allotted.

The online draw, as one might imagine, is the speed of online shopping and the ease of comparing products. Three in five (58%) said comparison shopping was a driving factor. Nearly a third (29%) said they found things online not available in local stores, and 24 percent said free shipping was a major factor. Seventeen percent liked the last-minute rush advantage.

The price of gas, perhaps surprising to some, is not a major factor driving consumers online. Only nine percent said they’d shop online to save money on gasoline.

“These findings clearly show that U.S. Internet users are shopping online more and more during the holiday season because of convenience, selection and price,” said Robert Hayes, AOL VP/GM Marketplace. “The average consumer is starting to see the advantages of online shopping over the traditional brick and mortar store.”

Items more likely to be purchased online:

Top Online Holiday Spending Cities:

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The holiday season is upon us, and with it the inevitable purchasing madness that grips consumers like a narcotic addiction while merchants shout with glee as visions of dollar signs dance in their head.

The familiar “cha-ching” of the cash register and token chit-chat with the check out clerk, however, is being replace by a much more docile shopping method this year.

Point. Click. Checkout.

Online commerce is growing at an exponential rate, and the 2006 holiday rush shows no indication of that trend will slow down. An AOL Shopping/Zogby Poll reports that 80% of American web users plan to buy gifts online this holiday season. The following is an except from the poll’s findings:

“As the internet becomes more accessible and easier to use, increasing numbers of people utilize it to carry out tasks online, including making purchases,” said Sarath Samarasekera, CEO of Shopster.com, a web service that powers over 1,500 e-stores across the country.

“Recent years have seen a marked improvement for online sales and we anticipate the upcoming holiday shopping season to reflect that trend”

Of course, online retail does come with its own share of drawbacks. Shoppers will miss out on the exciting opportunity to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and engage in sumo-style wrestling matches with deranged parents over vital-to-life products such as the crock pot that comes with a clock radio and the latest Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers action figures.

Hmm, maybe there’s a reason this online retail thing is taking off after all.

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.