Net users are being served! SHOPPING on the internet has finally taken off, according to a new report.

The study by Which? Online, called Are You Being Served? - The Growth of an E-Nation, found that internet shopping has more than doubled since 1998, with one in 10 net users describing themselves as regular online shoppers.

A Which? report last year found that computer software and hardware were the main online purchases, but now the emphasis has changed.

Books (13 per cent) and flights and holidays (12 per cent) are now the main reason for shopping online.

The report also indicates that customer confidence in e-shopping increases with internet experience. Fifty-eight per cent of those who have been online for more than two years have bought something online, compared with only a quarter of those who connected within the past year.

Alan Stevens, editor of Which? Online, said: "It's very encouraging to see an increase in consumers' confidence online and that shopping via the internet has become a more positive experience.

"The increase in online purchases of holiday and airlines show that those consumers are now seeing the benefits of shopping via the internet, saving both time and money."

Fraud is still a worry for 51 per cent of users, but morality (51 per cent) and pornography (56 per cent) are also big concerns.

It is estimated that more than 10million people are now using the net.

But the study says there is little evidence that Britons are turning into net junkies, with three-quarters of users online for five hours or less a week and visiting on average 13 websites a week.

And for all those worried that e-mail would see the end of face-to-face communication - you could be right.

One in five long-term net users said they preferred e-mail to any other form of communication, and more than half of all users regularly e-mailed friends and family.

http://www.which.net

Relationship advice

AN East Lancashire-based charity which helps couples having relationship problems has gone online.

Marriage Care Blackburn and Burnley offers counselling to married couples and individuals and is currently working on a marriage preparation course.

Although it is Catholic-based, people of all faiths - or none at all - can use its services.

Of course, to need the services of Marriage Care, you have to find a partner in the first place.

Any men having problems with chat-up lines that just don't seem to work should visit Consultagirl.com for some advice.

The site was set up by a group of 20-something women who want to lessen the communication gap between the sexes.

E-mail your query and they will give you an honest answer from an entirely female perspective!

http://www.stocks.demon.co.

uk/marriagecare

http://www.consultagirl.com

Stars worry over bad influence

EVEN being a multi-millionaire doesn't mean you can protect your children from the bad influence of the web.

Actor Kevin Costner thinks so, anyway. Costner has two daughters, Annie, 15, and Lily, 14, as well as a 12-year-old son Joe.

When asked on the Oprah Winfrey show about his children having access to the internet, the star replied: "A lot of parents are talking about that. I am. All at once, it's a healthy place to be and an unhealthy place to be. They have access to both. So really, you're constantly trying to teach them about judgement."

GET some advance information about new computer game Command and Conquer: Renegade at the Westwood web site.

http://www.westwood.com

SEEN something interesting on the web? Let me know. Send an e-mail to vcowan@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.