Analysis of differences in internet user experiences and virtual network activities in Taiwan

Considered a crucial industrial development in the 21st century, the Internet has had a marked effect in shaping modern society. The ongoing development of handheld mobile Internet devices has enabled services in the virtual world to be updated constantly, thereby providing numerous options regarding the virtual network interactions and activities of Internet users. Among the various virtual network activities, people and organizations can form friendships, purchase commercial goods, engage in virtual role-playing activities, and form virtual communities or families through the digital devices. For this study, we adopted an array of statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, independent samples t tests, analysis of variance, and factor analysis, to explore the differences in how virtual network behavior factors influence users from varying backgrounds and with varying levels of experience using the Internet. The analysis results revealed the effects of the time spent online per day, the length of time spent using the Internet, and owning multiple network accounts.    Key words: Virtual network world, online network activity, user behavior, virtual community.