Who is your significant other?

According to this Zogby poll, twenty-five percent of us need to get a life.

It won’t make you dinner or rub your feet, but nearly one in four Americans say that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time, according to a new poll released today by 463 Communications and Zogby International.

The Zogby/463 Internet Attitudes poll found that 24% of Americans said the Internet could serve as a replacement for a significant other. Not surprisingly, the percentage was highest among singles, of which 31% said it could be a substitute. There was no difference among males and females but there was a split based on political ideology. Thirty-one percent of those who called themselves “progressives” were open-minded to the Internet serving as a surrogate significant other while only 18% of those who consider themselves “very conservative” would consider it a substitute.

Sadly, I'm probably one of those people who needs to get a life, and the fact that you're reading this suggests that you do too!

Click the link above to read all the questions and answers, but here are a few others I found interesting:

More than half of Americans believe that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government. Twenty-nine percent said it should be regulated just like television content while 24% said government should institute an online rating system similar to the one used by the movie industry. In contrast, only 36% said the blocking of Internet video would be unconstitutional.

The older you get, the more likely you are to support government restrictions. Only 33% of 18 to 24 year-olds supported government stepping in on content, while 72% of those over 70 years of age support government regulation and ratings.

I personally advocate parents stepping up to the plate and monitoring what their children do online over government regulations. When my children were growing up, I never had pay cable stations like HBO and Cinemax, and I enforced their bedtime so I didn't have to worry about them overhearing an inappropriate remark on late night television. I know, I know...I'm speaking like a grandmother. Moving along...

More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook. Among 18-24 year-olds, it’s almost mandatory – 78% of them report having a social networking profile. More Democrats have a social networking presence than Republicans (32% to 22% ).

Sigh...when I was 18-years-old, I socially networked by calling my friends from my parent's wall phone, which was in our kitchen. Talk about a lack of privacy! We didn't have call waiting in those days either, so my parents limited our calls to 15 minutes. I used to pray my parents would someday let me have my own Princess phone in my bedroom, a pink one. Speaking of praying...

Most Americans don’t think the Internet has had an effect on their spirituality. Ten percent said it made them closer to God, while 6% percent said it made them more distant. Those who call themselves “Born Again” were the most likely to feel it affected them spiritually. Twenty percent of Born Agains said it made them closer while 11% said it made them more distant from God.

IMHO, I don't think God needs the internet to communicate to us. He just needs us to sit quietly and listen for a change.

Finally, it appears that parents need to put more thought into what they name their children:

And while there are well-documented fears about identity theft, many Americans would gladly give up their name for a cash windfall. If they were offered $100,000 by someone who wanted to adopt their name, more than one in five Americans said they would change their name to something completely different. Thirty-four percent of 18 to 24 year olds were prepared to take the offer.

I guess there's nothing money can't buy anymore.