The Internet. We love it, you love it. Even your Granny probably does (a Silver Surfer, as the marketers call her). But why essentially do we go online? What are the real reasons we choose to enter the World Wide Web?

In order to answer this question we decided to present you with the ‘Intent Index’, which was formulated by Global PR firm Ruder Finn. As with all things – the stats are highlighted in different ways by a range of bloggers, so below is a brief list of which stats were deemed important on various blogs. If you haven’t seen the index before, we recommend you play with it yourself.

From Ruder Fin: The Intent Index (June 2009)

 The index is updated quarterly and has a (very healthy) sample size of 500 web users.

How different bloggers interpret the stats:

From eMarketer: Why do people go online? (July 2009)

Other interesting insights picked up by eMarketer were the the following stats on teens:

• 69% posted comments on social networking sites
• 55% played games
• 50% went online specifically to rage against a person/organisation

From Pro Blogger: 22 Reasons to go online - which is your blog connecting with? (July 2009)

Highly rated area’s from the study:

• Educate Self (96%)
• Connect with Others (92%)
• Research (89%)
• Share (86%)
• Be Entertained (82%)

From Blog Catalogue: Reasons why people go online (July 2009)

• Men go online to do business, be informed of news and be entertained more than women
• Women are more likely to go online to socialise and express themselves than men
• Youth go online more for socialising, advocating and self-expression than seniors
• Both youth and seniors are going online to have fun

From Flytip: Why do people go online?  (July 2009)

• More than twice as many people go online to socialise (82%) than to do business (39%) or shop (31%)
• 72% of people go online just to become part of a community
• More than 3 in 5 Americans (63%) go online to influence others’ opinions or express contrasting or oppositional views

 Also check out:

• Friday Fact Box - Where and how do people access the internet
• Friday Fact Box - Dear Internet - Hapy 40th Birthday!
• Friday Fact Box - Online Tool Preferences