A survey on the role the Internet plays in people’s lives by Zogby International and communications consultancy, 463 Communications, found that 24 percent of Americans said the Internet could replace a partner for some period of time.

The percentage was highest among singles of whom 31 percent said the Internet could be a substitute — with no difference among males and females.

The researchers said the online survey of 9,743 adults conducted between October 4-8 showed that some younger people viewed the Internet as their new best friend.

For while more than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook, among 18-24 year-olds this is almost mandatory with 78 percent of them having a social networking profile.

Breaking it down by political beliefs, the study found more Democrats have a social networking presence than Republicans — at 32 percent to 22 percent.

But although American may love the Internet, most are not prepared to implant it into their brain — even if it was safe, the researchers said.

Only 11 percent of respondents said they would be willing to safely implant a device that let them use their mind to access the Internet although one in five would insert a chip into a child 13 years old or younger to help track them.

[1] copyright © 2007 [2] Reuters. All rights reserved.