Those who spend a lot of time online aren't necessarily anti-social, they are "differently social," suggests the report.

Geez, I wonder if there's a short bus or an olympics for that...

Internet users spend less time with friends and family and doing outdoor activities than people who rarely log on, but don't assume they are anti-social, a new report suggests.

The Statistics Canada study released yesterday used data from the 2005 General Social Survey that asked respondents to provide an account of all of their activities over a 24-hour period. The study looked at time spent online for personal use, separating it from time spent for work or education purposes in order to assess the social impacts of Internet use.

What it found was that heavy Internet users, those who log on for more than an hour a day for personal use, lead different lifestyles than moderate users, between five and 60 minutes, or non-users.

Heavy Internet users spend less time sleeping, relaxing and thinking, and they tend to be homebodies, the study said. They show less interest in outdoor activities and participating in sports, attending sporting or other events, going to the movies and engaging in volunteer work.

I disagree with that last paragraph. While I have never had an interest in sports or mosquitoes, I am still an extreme extrovert who loves to go out. The only difference is that now, thanks to the internet, I have found more people in my area who share my interests, and I go out and socialize in larger groups. I do spend less time sleeping and relaxing but I spend a good deal more time thinking than I used to. Then again, I don't use the Net for purely entertainment purposes, either. It's hard to find war and terror entertaining, unless you are an Islamic freak.

The study indicates frequent surfers spent about half an hour less with spouses and with children than did non-users, as well as less time on housekeeping.

Yeah, the housework thing. But I was always like that. The Internet just gave me the excuse I was looking for...