It appears that slack might just be The Next Big Thing online.

According to a study just released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, "nearly a third of all Internet users go online on a typical day for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time."

And all SubGenius jokes aside, this change to less goal-directed behavior (40 million people said they were surfing for fun) amongst Web users represents a serious shift in how people are using the Web…a shift that could have serious implications for online publishers.

Just less than 2 years ago (November 2004), a similar study by the same group found that only 25 million people surfed for fun.

For the most part, Web users were seen as very goal-directed, heading out online not to "surf" aimlessly but because they had a problem they wanted to solve or some information they wanted to get.

Usability experts and market researchers cautioned publishers that they had to create sites that appealed to this kind of behavior, reducing the number of clicks between users and the information they were seeking, keeping distractions down, and getting to the point as quickly as possible.

Now it seems as if things are changing. While there's no doubt that most of us use the Web to get stuff done, it appears that the trendlines point to more "recreational" usage where the Web becomes a kind of "recreational destination" rather than a utilitarian tool.

Why? The Pew study points to the rise in broadband as the primary reason, citing the fact that broadband users (72 percent) surf the Web for fun more than dial-up users (63 percent).

They also point to the rise in Web content as a major reason that people hang out online to have a good time: more stuff to surf means more stuff to see.

But there may be more to it than that. The growth in blogs (doubling every 5 months) has probably had a large effect on the growth of online slack.

Though their usefulness varies wildly, bloggers do serve an important function as the "filters" of the Web, obsessively combing the Web and posting links to the "good stuff."

While it used to be that users had to rely on a relatively limited number of sites to find nifty stuff, today there are literally millions of blogs out there with enough neat stuff to torpedo the productivity of millions of users.

Just one visit to a site like bOING bOING will convince anyone of the ease in which one can kill an afternoon by bloghopping.

Wikipedia tests limits of user-generated content. Click here to read more.

Another reason might be the sheer sophistication that more and more sites are bringing to bear to keep us around. Web 2.0 technologies and the ubiquity of Flash have created more and more compelling media that tends to draw people in whether or not they give a hoot (initially, at least) about the company providing the online "toys."

Sites such as the now-famous Subservient Chicken, the addictive "mix your own Wedding Crashers trailer" promoting the movie, 3-D sites and the seemingly non-stop flood of "advergames" being offered up by everyone from McDonalds to Sharpie all mean that more stuff is out there every day for users to amuse themselves with.

While it may just be another symptom that Americans are hell-bent on amusing ourselves to death, the trend is inescapable: more and more people are going online to have fun. Driven by broadband, blogging and boffo content, users are turning to the Web for fun and distraction.

For online publishers, it'll pay to pay attention to this trend when figuring out what kind of content to offer, how to offer it and what can get you notices in the growing blogosphere.

Sure, there are plenty of reasons why "serious" content sells and is important and there are plenty of reasons why goal-directed behavior shouldn't be met by sites that make it easier to find content, products and services. No question.

But still, it may be worth taking the time to think about what you can offer that's going to attract those looking to kill a little time. If they can have fun and learn about your products, services, and content, why not drag them in?

Slack is back.

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