Update: Internet Users Update 100% More

The recent study released by Pew Internet & Family Life project shows that Internet users that use Twitter, Facebook status and other status services is up 100% since April. 19% of Internet users are telling us what they’re doing, constantly. Approximately 87% of Americans are Internet users (I say approximately as 3 different studies gave me 3 different percentages).

It’s obvious that status updates are becoming increasingly pervasive. Facebook recently revamped their home page design to accommodate more immediate feeds and Twitter continues to grow. Status broadcast news has seen an explosion on Twitter, from consumers posting hot news items like the January Hudson River plane landing to live updates from Fox, CNN, etc. This last bit is important. The most immediate news has always been via radio and TV. As celestial radio station listener numbers shrink, it’s value as a news source has as well. Television continues to dominate news, except for those Americans that still have jobs. No one brings their 52″ LCD to work, yet. This means that the American workforce can receive the latest news via Twitter or Facebook through their work computer, even their phones.

Introducing this value to users, as well as major pushes from Oprah and Ellen has increased Twitter usage dramatically. A recent estimate by eMarketer expects there to be 26 million Twitter users by 2010.

Download the Pew Internet & Life Project study here.

Nielson: Shift in User Behavior on the Web

According to a recent article, Nielson say the number of U.S. consumers who frequent online video destinations has climbed 339% since 2003, while time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000% over the same period. In the last year alone, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, while the number of streams grew 41%, the streams per user grew 27%, and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71%.

Meanwhile, there are 87% more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883% more time devoted to those sites. In the last year alone, time spent on social networking sites has surged 73%, while in February, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time.

On How Many Sites Do You Upload or Download Media Files?

A recent study shows that images are the most often shared digital files and podcasts are the least shared. It got me thinking, how many different sites do people interact with to upload or download media files. These files can include but are not limited to images, videos, audio, blogs, documents (such as Google Docs,  SlideShare, resumes), etc.

How Manys Sites Do You Visit That Require A Password?

Many sites, from social networks to news organizations to your utility providers, require a login and password. It can certainly become a chore managing all of those multiple passwords. Many people use the same ones, some use universal passwords when possible. How many sites do you use that require a password? Don’t count web-based email accounts or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

How Many Social Networks Do You Belong To?

There has been alot of talk about the amount of people using social networks. Many theorize that a select few belong to multiple SoNets, some theorize that millions belong to at least one SoNet. I’m curious, how many are single network members versus heavy social network visitors?

I‘ll leave the poll open so the data can continue to update.

How Many Email Accounts Do You Have?

As new services pop up, or people change jobs, they often continue to maintain old email accounts while adding on new ones. After reading some shaky data, I decided to ask my network. I’ll leave the poll open indefinitely so it should continue to update dynamically.

Chinese Network, Oh Yes They Do!

A Netpop survey recently released shows that Internet users in China outpace Americans when it comes to social networking in not only numbers but percentages. 92% of broadband users in China contribute to social networks while 76% do so in America. Because of the population differences, this means that 224 million Chinese are communicating through social networks compared to 105 million Americans.

Other facts uncovered:

43% of China’s broadband users (105 million) contribute to forums and discussion boards.

The most prolific group is young professionals (25-29).

37% of bloggers (29 million) post daily.

41 million Chinese engage in 6 or more activities that connect with 84 people on a weekly basis.

Read the full article here.

93% Growth in Social Networking since 2006

A recent Netpop study found that social network engagement among broadband users has risen 93% since 2006. Almost 1/3 of Internet users are spending their time communicating over other forms of online entertainment, which has fallen from 29% to 19% over the same time period. It was not clear as to exactly what constitutes online entertainment. That brings the total of socially networking Americans to 105 million.

Other facts uncovered in the study:

Photos are the most common thing shared online, podcasts were the least.

Email is still the most popular form of online communication.

Blogs are shared with co-workers than other media.

Younger users are heavier users, split 50/50 in gender.

Over half of adult microbloggers (Twitterers) tweet once a day compared to almost three-quarters of under 18 microbloggers.

The study further points to what marketers need to consider concerning social media:

Websites need to designate more space to user generated content.

Marketers, Customer Service and Consumer Intelligence need to pool their knowledge.

Brands need to learn to engage in transparent and respectful dialogues with consumers.

Marketers need to learn more about the social network channels they are attempting to communicate through.

Read the full study here.

Hispanics not Keeping up with the Joneses

Online Hispanic audiences are on average 10% behind other ethnic groups. According to Scarborough Research, the percentage of Hispanic adults surfing the web if 54% compared to 69%, the total of all adults. While they are behind in broadband adoption 68% compared to the national 71%, the spend $762 million online compared to the national average of $861 million by the 62% of online Hispanics that make ecommerce purchases compared to 70% of all online adults. Hispanic audiences are big fans of downloads however:

42% of Hispanics report downloading content compared to 35% of all US adults.

17% downloaded “other video” – whatever that means

11% downloaded audio clips

9% downloaded movies

8% downloaded tv programs

6% downloaded video games

3% downloaded podcasts

As far as mobile phone usage goes:

55% of hispanics send text messages

28% send pictures

22% sent instant messages

15% downloaded a video game and used email

Mobile Consumption Doubles in 1 Year

Of the 63.2 million unique users who accessed news and information using a mobile device in January, 22.37 million did so on a daily basis. This 35% represents a 107% increase in the number of mobile users who access the mobile web on a daily basis from last year. These numbers from comScore show that not only are more mobile users accessing the Internet via mobile, a growing third of them are doing so on a regular, daily basis.

“The increase is driven, first, by widespread improvements and dissemination in technologies that have created better consumer experiences – 3G, smartphones – but also very capable high-end feature phones and, second, lots and lots of content and applications being provided by first-tier publishers and others,” said comcScore SVP of mobile, Mark Donovan.

Those who accessed the web using mobile devices on a weekly basis grew 87% from 10.31 million to 19.28 million, meaning that it’s not just a small group of early adopters. Monthly unique mobile web usage was up 71% from 36.87 million to 63.18 million since January of 2008.

What are mobile users doing?

Daily social network and blog traffic was up 427% from 1.76 million to 9.28 million.
Daily stock trading and financial account traffic was up 188% from 1.14 million to 3.27 million.
Daily access of movie info was up 185% from 1.08 million to 3.07 million.
Daily interest in business dirctories was up 161% from 939,000 to 2.45 million.
Access of entertainment news on a daily basis was up 160% from 2.1 million to 5.47 million.

While the popularity of iPhone apps and text searches and 22.3 million application downloads drives the increase in mobile Internet usage, 70% of this traffic is from regular phones rather than smartphones.

Get the full article here.

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