Yahoo!, Google at top of most-visited sites

Without the Internet, Suzy Evans's life would be a lot different.

As an environmental consultant, Evans, 43, of Florence, goes out on the field to places she's never been before and counts on Web sites such as MapQuest.com to get her there.

Before heading outdoors, though, she checks the weather.

"If I am going to be outside and have to check the weather, I go to weather.com," she said.

Evans said she also enjoys using Web sites to shop online, especially for unique items she can't find in stores locally.

"I wanted a flashlight that didn't need a battery and a crank flashlight," she said. "When I'm looking for flashlights, I go to flashlightsunlimited.com."

Like countless others, Evans said that she uses Google.com.

"I Google a lot," she said. "I think it's the easiest way to find things."

The Internet is like a web through which you can wander and weave. Some sites are popular and some have been around for years, some are new and are used only by the technical minds of the world. All of them, however, are knitted into the World Wide Web.

During December, comScore, Inc. tracked the unique visitors to the most-hit Web properties. There are probably a few Web properties in its top 50 list that some Internet surfers may have never even heard of, such as Weatherbug or iVillage.com: The Women's Network, or even sites such as Gorilla Nation or Shopzilla.com.

One thing is certain, local Internet surfers do know what Web sites they like to visit and why.

Kyle Weir, reference supervisor for the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, said a lot of individuals come to the library and surf their favorite sites on the library's computers or from a personal lap top. Although many of them are doing research for projects or school, many more are just enjoying the endless Web.

"Two of the biggest Web sites they visit are Facebook and MySpace. On any given afternoon, when the computers are full, over half the people seem to be on either of the two," Weir said.

Facebook.com received 34.6 million unique visitors in December, according to comScore data.

Weir said Facebook started as a college networking site but is now open to the general public.

Because it began as a collegiate social networking outlet, Facebook is geared more toward young adults, though just about anyone may create a profile.

MySpace is another Web site frequently used by young adults, but it has also managed to attract everyone from celebrities and bands to serious businesses and moms and dads.

Weir admits he has his own MySpace page, which has been a great tool to reconnect with friends and family.

"I think people feel a greater sense of community on there and find people with similar interests," he said.

Northwest-Shoals Community College student Seren Lyle, 20, said she has her own MySpace and Facebook accounts.

"I use it to keep up with what's going on with friends and relatives," she said. "I think some people try to be nosy on there, though, and look somebody up just to see them."

For some social network members, it's tempting to visit an old acquaintance's page to see where they are and what they look like now. For some, it's the perfect opportunity to keep in touch with loved ones.

"MySpace and Facebook have created a whole new form of relationships," said Chris Webb, owner of Shaolin Computers. "It's a way to access people you couldn't before."

Many of the most-hit Web sites are free to use and have universal appeal, Webb said. The most-hit sites, such as Google, which comScore noted received 132.9 million unique visitors in December, and Yahoo!, which received 136.6 million, are also ones that just about everyone who surfs the Internet knows about.

"When something reaches a certain amount of saturation, you know about it. There's no way not to know about it," Webb said.

For folks like Webb who are constantly on the Internet, he uses sites such as Google as a springboard to research technical issues at work.

Weir said he has observed Internet surfers visiting sites such as Wikipedia, Monster, CNN, The Weather Channel, ESPN, and those who are "blogging" - a Web log that posts people's individual thoughts and ideas.

"Blogging is really taking off," he said. "It's becoming almost an alternative journalism. Blog Spot is still popular, and you can blog off MySpace."

Another site, eBay, has also become a Web phenomenon that has taken off during recent years and received 79.8 million unique visitors in December, according to the comScore findings.

Marcus Nichols, 24, of Florence, who shops eBay, said he finds eBay to be very convenient. In fact, he said he recently purchased a car off the Web site.

"I do mostly car shopping," he said. "eBay has pretty much anything you want."

The Internet also has made family members more accessible to each other. Evans said she frequents her mother's Web site, thegypsyquilter.com, and through e-mail, Evans said she is able to stay in contact with her son who is in Iraq.

"If I write him a letter, it takes however many days to get there," Evans said. "If I send him an e-mail, I can get a response in a day or two."

Advances in Internet technology and the increased accessibility of it through wireless access have made the Web a more-frequently utilized service.

"Having wireless access is playing a big role. It's making it where you don't have to have Internet access at home," Weir said. "The greater accessibility has helped create this greater sense of a cyber community."

Kenda Williams can be reached at 740-5720 or kenda.williams@timesdaily.com.