The Personal Computer, Culture, and Other Uses of Free Time

This report compares the cultural participation and other free time activities of heavy users, light users, and nonusers of personal computers, based on a 1997 national survey of more than 6,000 respondents age 18 years or older conducted for the National Endowment for the Arts. No significant or consistent evidence of time displacement of such leisure activities was found. Indeed, heavier computer use was associated with significantly greater participation in cultural and other free time activities, even after multivariate adjustment. These results reinforce conclusions from earlier surveys showing higher mass media use among home computer users rather than displacement, as occurred with the introduction of television. These results reinforce the conclusion that personal computers might have more in common with “time-enhancing” home appliances such as the telephone than they do with television.