Uncomfortable Liaisons

VANCOUVER, November 14, 2000 - While many young Internet users communicate regularly with people they meet in chat rooms -- and some go as far as getting together in person - a significant number of teenage girls and women report receiving unwanted comments and questions about sex and their bodies leaving them frightened and uneasy. The new study from market and public opinion research company Ipsos-Reid also shows that although most young women continue to use the Internet, many report being turned off chat rooms for good.

These findings emerge from The Face of The Web: Youth, the company's latest study of global Internet usage, focusing on teenagers and young adults in 16 countries. A total of more than 10,000 Internet users aged 12 to 24 were interviewed earlier this year on a variety of subjects, including their experiences in chat rooms.

"For some people, getting up close and personal in an Internet chat room is as enjoyable as letter-writing, phone calling, or plain old face-to-face meetings," said Gus Schattenberg, vice-president of global research for Ipsos-Reid.

"Unfortunately, for some, chat room interactions can have at least as much potential of turning weird and upsetting--especially for young females, who are also the most likely to participate in chat rooms--as other forums for discussion do."

Negative Experience in Chat Rooms:

	Males	Females	Males	Females
	12-17	12-17	18-24	18-24
Felt Frightened or uneasy	10%	21%	11%	25%
Comments about body/sex	37%	66%	41%	63%
Unwanted messages for more information	36%	48%	45%	58%

(Note: Respondents are only people with negative experiences.)

The 16-country study found that:

• Seven-in-ten young Internet users have participated in chat rooms.
• Girls and young women are more than twice as likely as boys and young men to have had negative experiences using chat rooms (about one-quarter of young female chat room participants), including receiving unwanted comments of a sexual nature or repeated requests for further contact.
• Disturbing experiences are most often reported in Asia (one-quarter of young male participants, and up to one-half of young female participants). Youth in Europe are far less likely to say they've been unnerved by chat room experiences (eight percent male, 12 percent female).
• Most youth who have been upset in chat rooms do not discontinue using the Internet. However, a full third of young females say they decreased their attendance in chat rooms as a result of a bad experience (compared to one-in-six young males).
• More than half of the time (57%), negative experiences occurred in chat rooms that were devoted to topics other than dating and relationships (negative experiences in chat rooms devoted to dating and relationships accounted for 38% of cases).
• Only about one-in-five young chat room participants have gone on to meet in person someone they first encountered online; this proportion increases with the age of the chatter.

Methodology

The Face of the Web: Youth is a two-phase survey conducted in the spring and summer with over 10,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 24 in 16 countries. Half of the interviews were conducted with a representative sample of the youth populations in each country to track current Internet awareness, usage, and intentions to go online. The remainder of the interviews focussed on young Internet users in each country to investigate their Internet usage patterns and experience with Internet music, chat, and retail services.

National samples each consisted of 300 12-24-year-olds, except in the U.S., where 600 interviews were conducted. Results outside the U.S. are accurate within an error margin of no more than plus/minus 6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20; in the U.S., the results are accurate within an error margin of no more than plus/minus 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About Ipsos-Reid

Ipsos-Reid has been tracking public opinion around the world for more than 20 years and has become a leading provider of global public opinion and market research to private, public and not for profit organizations in over 50 countries. With more than 1,300 staff in ten cities, Ipsos-Reid offers clients a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus and online research products and services. It is best known for its line of Express opinion polls, the World Monitor public affairs journal, and The Face of The Web, the most comprehensive study of global Internet usage and trends. It is a member of Paris-based Ipsos Group, ranked among the top ten research groups in the world.

For more information, please contact:

Gus Schattenberg 604) 893-1606.