The Online Publishers Association cites a recent study showing that in the last four years, there has been a jump in the number of Internet users who seek content rather than use the tech for communication. In 2003, 46% of users primarily used the web for communication, and that has dropped to 33%. Viewing content now is at 47%.

The OPA found a number of other important factors behind the changes, including:

* A more accessible, and much faster, Internet is driving increased overall time spent online.
* The increased popularity of video is leading to more time being spent with online content.
* The improvement in search allows consumers to more easily and quickly find the exact content they are looking for, increasing the likelihood they will engage more deeply with that content.
* The Web simply offers far more content than it did even four years ago, increasing content’s share of time.
* The rise of instant messaging (IM) as a key communications tool has been a factor in communication’s reduction in share of time. IM is a more efficient communications vehicle than email.

I know I am spending much more time online reading a huge amount of information, from archived info to current news and magazine sites, blogs and an ever-growing video output, not to mention podcasts. And where I used to email friends to share and start discussions, more often today I send them links to articles and essays and they send more back to me.