How many people have accessed the internet

For Reddit it is the other way around, the share of men is almost twice as high. From a back-of-the-envelope calculation we know that, if Facebook has 2. Young people tend to use social media more frequently. In fact, in rich countries, where access to the internet is nearly universal , the vast majority of young adults use it.

The chart here shows the proportion of people aged 16 to 24 who use social networks across a selection of countries. The increase in social media use over the last decade has, of course, come together with a large increase in the amount of time that people spend online. In the US, adults spend more than 6 hours per day on digital media apps and websites accessed through mobile phones, tablets, computers and other connected devices such as game consoles.

As the chart here shows, this growth has been driven almost entirely by additional time spent on smartphones and tablets. There is evidence that in other rich countries people also spend many hours per day online. This chart shows the number of hours young people spend on the internet across a selection of rich countries. As we can see, the average for the OECD is more than 4 hours per day, and in some countries the average is above 6 hours per day.

Even on a global stage the speed of diffusion is striking: Facebook surged from covering around 1. How does this compare to the diffusion of other communication technologies that make part of our everyday life today? The rise of social media is an extraordinary example of how quickly and drastically social behaviours can change: Something that is today part of the everyday life of one-third of the world population, was unthinkable less than a generation ago.

Fast changes like those brought about by social media always spark fears about possible negative effects. Specifically in the context of social media, a key question is whether these new communication technologies are having a negative impact on our mental health — this is an important question and we cover the evidence at Our World in Data here.

Here I want to look at the global expansion of the Internet since then. The share of the population and the total number of people using the Internet 6. Internet access. What share of people are online? Click to open interactive version.

How many internet users does each country have? Broadband access. This chart shows the number of fixed broadband subscriptions per people. Mobile phone use. The rise of social media. Social media started in the early s.

Facebook has dominated the social media market for a decade, but five other platforms also have more than half a billion users each. Some social media sites are particularly popular among specific population groups. In rich countries almost all young people use social media. The rise of social media in rich countries has come together with an increase in the amount of time spent online. Some perspective on how fast and profound these rapid changes are.

The following chart provides some perspective. Data Sources. Data: Total Population in number of people , Internet Users per people , Fixed wired broadband subscriptions per people , Mobile cellular subscriptions Geographical Coverage: Worldwide Time Span: Dependent on the metric set but mostly from or onwards Available at: data.

Wordpress Edit Page. Racial minorities and those with lower levels of education and income are less likely to have broadband service at home. There has been a steady decline of those who use smartphones as their primary means of online access at home in recent years.

Reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among younger adults, lower-income Americans and those with a high school education or less.

Find more in-depth explorations of internet and home broadband patterns in the U. Who are they? April 22, About a quarter of U. All reports and blog posts related to internet access. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.

It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Loading statistic Show source. Download for free You need to log in to download this statistic Register for free Already a member? Log in. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic.

Joseph Johnson. Research expert covering internet use, cybercrime, digital privacy, and online search. Profit from additional features with an Employee Account.

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