Online Population Demographics
Before you can build a website you have to know about your audience. A good place to begin is by looking at who is online and what they are doing. The internet is such a part of life today that the majority of adults are online, but there are striking differences by age, ethnicity, location, income, and education.
According to a 2008 survey by Pew Internet & American Life Project internet use in the US is widespread.
| Demographics of Internet Users | |
|---|---|
| Use the Internet % | |
| Total Adults | 73 |
| Women | 73 |
| Men | 73 |
| Age | |
| 18-29 | 90 |
| 30-49 | 85 |
| 50-64 | 70 |
| 65+ | 35 |
| Race/ethnicity | |
| White, Non-Hispanic | 75 |
| Black, Non-Hispanic | 59 |
| English-speaking Hispanic | 80 |
| Geography | |
| Urban | 74 |
| Suburban | 77 |
| Rural | 63 |
| Household income | |
| Less than $30,000/yr | 53 |
| $30,000-$49,999 | 76 |
| $50,000-$74,999 | 85 |
| $75,000 + | 95 |
| Educational attainment | |
| Less than High School | 44 |
| High School | 63 |
| Some College | 84 |
| College + | 91 |
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, April 8 – May 11, 2008 Tracking Survey
Some results worth noting are:
- The older a person is the less likely they are to be online. The dramatic decline after age 65 is unlikely to continue as the Baby Boomer generation transitions to senior citizen status.
- Whites and Hispanics have a stronger online presence than Blacks.
- The percentage of rural internet users still lags behind urban and suburban users, rural users are increasing.
- Income influences internet use directly, the higher the income - the higher the internet use.
- Education shows the same direct correlation to internet use.
If your organization's target audience is low-income and poorly educated, they are less likely to be online. On the other hand, if you depend on upper income, well-educated people to support your nonprofit, the internet is a great place to communicate with them.
The Impact of Broadband on What We Do Online
The rapid increase in broadband access in recent years has had a huge impact on how we use the internet, especially the world wide web. It's no coincidence that the spread of Web 2.0 services happened at the same time that home broadband became widespread. While dial-up users might enjoy watching the latest YouTube or JibJab video, the slow dial-up connection is too frustrating to do so on a regular basis. Broadband enables the fast connections needed for rich multi-media pages. It also makes it easier to do just about everything we do online.
| Online Activities: Share of users in each category who have ever done listed | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| All internet users | Home Dial-up | Home Broadband | |
| Use an online search engine | 89% | 80% | 94% |
| Check weather reports and forecasts | 80 | 75 | 84 |
| Get news online | 73 | 61 | 80 |
| Visit a state or local government website | 66 | 55 | 72 |
| Watch a video on a videosharing site | 52 | 29 | 60 |
| Look online for information about a job | 47 | 36 | 50 |
| Send instant messages | 40 | 38 | 44 |
| Read someone else's blog | 33 | 15 | 40 |
| Use a social networking site | 29 | 21 | 33 |
| Make a donation to charity online | 20 | 9 | 23 |
| Downloaded a podcast | 19 | 8 | 22 |
| Download or share files using peer-to-peer networks | 15 | 15 | 17 |
| Create or work on your own blog | 12 | 8 | 15 |
| Number of cases | 1,553 | 249 | 1,138 |
Based on Pew Internet & American Life Project Survey, Home Broadband Adoption 2008
Statistics Sources
The following statistical sources are worth checking for additional internet demographic information:
- US Census: Ecommerce studies, population studies, occasional reports
- U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration: Digital economy, occasional reports
- Pew Internet & American Life Project: Ongoing surveys and topical studies
- The Harris Poll: Occasional surveys
- Neilson//NetRatings: Internet and web surveys
- UCLA center for Communication Policy: Internet Project: A longitudinal study of the Internet use of 2000 Americans
