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Who's Online? Stats and data on various web tools

This is an important consideration for all advocates, using the online space or not. We all know it’s critical to know who your audiences are, and where you can find them. I really encourage you to consider the accessibility of any online tools you’re considering.  Although the online space facilitates communication, do consider who’s being left out of new spaces. As you probably already know, there are many factors contributing to the “digital divides”: connection speed (dial-up, high speed, etc.), language, culture, age, ethnicity, gender, disability (vision), etc. etc.

Remember that you should be sensitive to what your community says/demonstrates. Although we can gather lots of data and statistics, your community will have its own reactions to web-based tools. So it’s critical to build in the necessary systems to gauge how well things are going.  

Finally, remember that many communities outside of the US are using different but equally powerful organizing tools. For example, Skype took off in some parts of the Global South much more quickly than here in the US because of the costs of traditional phone communication. Same with using mobile phones for organizing. So be careful about assuming that US-based activists need to ‘slow down’ what we’re doing to enable others to get involved; in many cases, advocates located outside of the US are just using different tools.

 

Following are some useful statistics. Please send additional data, or requests for kinds of data, and I'll do my best to keep this information up to date (email Karen at netcentriccampaigns.org). This is current as of December 2007.  

 

Basic statistics (US):

  • 71% of adults are online. 70% of women, 71% of men
  • Age: 18-29: 87% are online; 50-64: 65%; 30-49: 83%; 65+: 32%
  • Ethnicity:
    • White, non-Hispanic: 73%
    • Black, non-Hispanic: 62%
    • English-speaking Hispanic: 78%
    • However, some research has shown that “opinion leaders” within all of these groups are online.
  • Geography: Urban: 73%; Suburban: 73%; Rural: 60%
  • Income:
    • Less than 30k/year: 55%
    • $30-$49k/year: 69%
    • $50-$74k/year: 82%
    • +$75k/year: 93%
  • Education:
    • Less than high school: 40%
    • High school: 61%
    • Some college: 81%
    • College+: 91%

Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo.1.11.097.htm

What are internet users doing online?

  • Sending or receiving email: 91%
  • Using a search engine to find information: 41%
  • Reading news: 72%
  • Looking for information on a hobby or interest: 83%
  • Looking for health or medical information: 80%
  • Researching a product or service before buying: 78%
  • Getting news: 72%
  • Visiting a local, state or federal government website: 66%
  • Looking for new or information about politics or campaigns: 54%
  • Reading someone else’s journal or blog: 39%
  • Uploading photos to a website to share: 37%
  • Downloading a podcast: 29%
  • Searching for information about someone you know or meet: 28%
  • Participating in a chat room or online discussion: 22%
  • Creating content for the internet: 19%
  • Downloading video files: 19%
  • Using an online social networking site (MySpace, Facebook): 16%
  • Making a phone call online: 8%
  • Creating or working on a personal weblog: 8%
Source:http:pewinternet.org/trends/Daily_Internet_Activities_6.15.07.ht


What technologies do people have?

  • Cell phones: 73%
  • Desktop computer: 68%
  • Digital camera: 55%
  • Video camera: 43%
  • Laptop computer: 30%
  • MP3 player: 20%
  • Webcam: 13%
  • PDA: 11%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project April 2006 Survey

Data on some specific tools:
Wikipedia

  • Over 41 million unique US hits, monthly
  • 36% of adults use Wikipedia
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/212/report_display.asp
  • Income: Fairly even use between households of varying incomes
  • Children: Families with children 6-17, living in the household, have higher than average use.
  • Families without children 6-17, living in the household, have lower than average use
  • Ethnicity:
    • Hispanics and Asians have higher than average use
    • Causasians are average users
    • African Americans have less than average use
  • Whites 37% use Wikipedia; Blacks 27%; English-speaking Hispanics 36% (
Sources: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Wikipedia07.pdf and

http://www.quantcast.com/wikipedia.org

Social networking sites
MySpace:

  • More than half of the users are 35 or older. 12-17: 12%; 18-24: 18%; 25-34: 17%; 35-54: 40%; 55+:11%


Facebook:

  • More than 41% users are 35 or older. 12-17: 41%; 18-24: 34%; 25-34: 9%; 35-54: 34%; 55+: 7%

Source: Comscore: http:www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1019

Differences between Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites:

  • 88% of first-year higher-education students use social network sites.
  • 80% of students use Facebook; 55% MySpace
  • Use of both Facebook and MySpace is diverse, but some groups use one or the other more:
    • Hispanic students more likely to use MySpace than white students
    • Asian/American students use all of the sites, but use MySpace the least.
    • White and Asian/American are more likely to use Facebook than other social network sites.
  • Education:
    • Students with at least one parent with a graduate degreeare more represented on Facebook. Those whose parents have less than high school disproportionately using MySpace.
  • Gender:
    • Overall, there's a higher likelihood of women using social network sites. They're also more likely to use MySpace.
  • Other:
    • Students who live at home are less likely to use Facebook than other social network sites.
    • Students are more likely to use Facebook and MySpace if they have friends/family with internet access.

Source: "Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites" http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/hargittai.html

 


Online video

  • 57% online users have watched video
  • Ages: 18-29: 76% watch online video; 30-49: 57%; 50-64: 46%; 65+: 39%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project. July 25, 2007

Social tagging
Digg:

  • 8.9 million US users/month
  • Households with children 6-17, living in the home: above average use
  • Average use across income, ethnicity, education

Source: http://www.quantcast.com/digg.com

Del.icio.us:

  • 2.6 million US users/month
  • Above average users 35-64
  • Ethnicity: Hispanics and other have above average use
  • Income: Highest use from 0-$30,000, followed by above average use $60-100,000
  • Education: above average use from those without college education

Source: http://www.quantcast.com/del.icio.us

 

Creating websites accessible for visually-impaired users: http://www.mardiros.net/visual-impaired.html