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STORY THIS WEEK: A Worldwide Look at the World Wide Web
Demographics of Internet Usage
Around the World
Unsurprisingly, Internet access follows economic development. A worldwide survey conducted by Gallup in 2010 found that globally, a median of 2 in 10 adults reported that they have home Internet access. The proportion was highest in economically prosperous nations in varying regions: Sweden topped the chart at 88%, followed by Singapore (87%), Hong Kong (86%), Switzerland (86%), Canada (86%), and the UAE (84%). The United States clocked in tenth at 81%. Urbanization and rising income levels have brought the Internet to more and more countries, yet undeveloped nations who would benefit tremendously from a digital infrastructure have seen little help developing their networks: the bottom of the list consists, predictably, of the world's most impoverished nations: Rwanda, Niger, Cameroon, and Cambodia rank last with 0%, while many other African nations hover barely above at 1-3%.
As of 2009, China trailed the rest of the world dramatically in terms of Internet usage, with just 23% of its citizens having an Internet connection. However, despite over three-quarters of the country not having access, China is still home to more Internet users than any other nation in the world. By the end of 2009, China boasted 384 million Internet users, a count exceeding the entire population of the United States, and those numbers are continuing to grow rapidly. Between 2007 and 2009, the share of Chinese with home Internet access rose by 9% according to Gallup, representing an increase of 90 million new users.
In the U.S.
The aptly named "Internet Generation" of young adults strikes most people as the most obvious highly connected demographic. However, Internet use is high among other groups as well. In a 2009 poll, Gallup found that an overall total of 48% of Americans report using the Internet for more than one hour per day, up from just 26% in 2002. Post-graduates topped the charts at 68%, followed by those making $75,000 or more (63%), ages 18-29 (62%), and ages 30-49 (54%). It also found that men (53%) were more likely to use the Internet frequently than women (42%).
The Internet's penetration is even more evident when it comes to whether people use the Internet at all, as a 2010 Pew study found that 77% of Americans report using the Internet. The survey also found significant differences in usage by age (90% of 18-29 year olds vs. 46% of those age 65+), income (96% of those with an income of $75,000+ vs. 63% with incomes below $30,000), race (80% of non-Hispanic Whites vs. 69% of Blacks and 66% of Hispanics), area (78% in urban areas vs. 68% in rural areas), and particularly educational attainment (93% with a college degree vs. 40% with less than high school degrees). But although the demographic differences are significant, the high usage rates across demographics indicate the pervasiveness of the Internet throughout the country.
Though a significant usage gap still persists among seniors and younger Americans, it is certainly narrowing. Nielsen found that the share of seniors on the Internet grew by 55% between 2004 and 2009, and according to Pew, between 2009 and 2010, their use of social media doubled from 13% to 26%. In comparison, social media use among 18-29 year olds grew by just over 13% over that period.
So Much to Do, So Much Time
How do Americans spend their ever-increasing time online? Pew reports that email use tops the list at 92% for adult Internet users, followed by using search engines (87%), looking for medical information (83%), hobbies or interests (83%), searching maps and directions (82%), checking the weather (81%), looking for product information (78%), and getting news (78%). Two-thirds watch videos on sites like YouTube, 61% use social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, and 58% bank online. The Pew data also reveals that Twitter's influence significantly outpaces its breadth, as just 13% of adult Internet users -and only one-out-of-five 18-29 year olds (18%)-use the site.
While email remains the most widely used online service, these numbers do not account for the recent dramatic changes in how people use the Internet. According to a 2010 Nielsen report, social networking websites consume the most amount of time Americans spend online (22.7%), an increase of 43% over the previous year. The amount of time users spent emailing decreased 28%, demonstrating the turn to social networks as a key tool for communication: in a typical hour, the average user spends 13 minutes on Facebook and only 5 minutes on email. In fact, the average user spends more time playing games online (6 minutes) than on email. The decline of email is further supported by a 2010 Pew study that found that only 11% of teens use email to communicate with their friends on a daily basis, preferring to send text messages or use social networking websites.
Although email might be falling out of favor with younger Americans, it is far from obsolete; the Pew numbers indicate that it is still the most widespread online activity, and the decrease in total Internet time spent on email is mitigated by an increase in the use of email on mobile devices with Internet. Nielsen indicates that 25 minutes per hour of Internet use on smartphones is spent on email, compared to only 6 minutes on social networks.
The U.S., the World, and the World Wide Web
Many have marveled at the phenomenon of our ever-shrinking world, as the Internet has made global communication virtually instantaneous and opened up previously undreamt-of possibilities for business, education, and the like. But a 2008 Gallup survey found that wider Internet access around the world is not necessarily correlated with improved perceptions of the U.S. The percentage disapproving of the US is significantly higher among countries in the top quartile of Internet usage (55%) than those in the bottom (25%). This trend holds across the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Furthermore, those with access to the Internet at home are more likely to disapprove of U.S. leadership (30% approve / 55% disapprove) than those without Internet access at home (44% approve / 31% disapprove). Although these numbers do not represent a causal link between Internet usage and opinions about America, they indicate the importance of the Internet to America's public perception abroad and undercut the notion that improved Internet access around the world will bolster America's global image.
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