A study conducted by IDC last year found that people spent more time online than any other medium – approximately 32.7 hours at the computer per week. The internet has completely consumed our attention, more so than television, newspapers, and magazines. The study concluded that people tend to use the media that they grew up with, so for the younger generation computers are everything, whereas the older population prefers to use traditional forms of media.

This year, Nielson Online released their survey findings which reflected a change in how we use the internet – email, which has long since been one of the most popular activities online (behind search engine websites), is now being surpassed by social networking sites. Facebook has eclipsed MySpace, the once common social networking site of choice, due to its ability to customize profiles in a unique way and share photos with people. Twitter, however, is making strides and gaining popularity because of its stripped back format and ease of use.

Universities are also seeking to capitalize on the popularity of social networking sites and reach the students in the virtual realm. This is achieved by registering accounts with Twitter to keep students aware of campus events and notify students of any potential concerns about unusual campus activity. Blogs are also becoming increasingly popular since they allow students to generate discourse online.

With so much time being spent online, there’s little wonder that online education is also making strides. Online education will continue to grow, since future college students will have grown up with the computer as their number one form of medium. There are also many advantages of distance learning that going to a traditional brick and mortar college cannot offer.