Virtual tourists

Have you taken a virtual tour of a university with a high school student at your house? If so, you're in good company. In the latest of the Pew Internet & American Life project's reports on Americans' online activities and pursuits, it found that 45% of US adults online (54 million people) have taken a virtual tour - 2 million people on a typical day. Popular destinations include museums, tourist and vacation locales (e.g., the White House and the Taj Mahal), colleges and prep schools, real estate, historical exhibits, parks and nature preserves, and hotels and motels. Here's the San Jose Mercury News on this. Other recent Pew findings about Americans' online activities include:

* 53 million US adults use instant-messaging. *How* people use IM "varies widely across the age groups. Of interest to parents: Younger people use IM "not only as a way to expand and remain connected their social circle, but also as a form of self-expression, through use of customized away messages, profiles and buddy icons." They use these expressive tools "more frequently than the protective tools that allow them to block unwanted communications. Buddy list management also occurs relatively infrequently, with users reporting adding or deleting buddies from their list no more than a few times a month."
* 26% of US adult Net users (33 million people) have rated a product, service, or person using an online rating system.
* 84% have used search engines (107 million people), and 87% of those say the find the info they want most of the time.