Internet Use On The Up And Up--Is Anyone Surprised?

Here's some news you just won't believe: on average, people spend more time on the Internet now than they did in the past. Shocking, isn't it?! A new Harris Poll has found that adult Internet users are now online an average of 13 hours per week, though the actual usage of those surveyed varies rather significantly. 20% of adult users are online for only two hours or less per week, while 14% are spending 24 hours or more per week.

The results are being calculated from a telephone poll of 2029 adults between July 7th and 12th and October 13th and 18th, and the best part of this is looking at how the 13 hours compares to the past. Over the years the average hours spent online have increased from 7 hours in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, to between 8 and 9 hours in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007, it increased to 11 hours. Last year (in October after the financial crisis broke and before the presidential election) Internet users were online for 14 hours a week, double what it was from 1999 to 2002.

So, are you online more and more these days? What for? We're guessing that the influx of news online and the rapid increase of social networking popularity has led to the uptick, but feel free to tell us you're just addicted to World of Warcraft.

Those who are online

Other interesting findings in this Harris Poll include:

• The age groups that spend the most time online are those aged 30-39 (18 hours) and those aged 25-29 (17 hours) and 40-49 (17 hours).
• Half (50%) of all those online bought something on the Internet in the last month. This includes 62% of those aged 30-39 and 56% of those aged 40-49.
• The number of adults online, now 184 million (80%), has not changed significantly since 2008 and 2007. This includes those online at work, at home, at school or any other locations.
• However, the number of adults who are online at home has increased to 76% this year, and 75% last year, compared to 70% in 2006, and 66% in 2005.

So what?

The increase in the number of hours spent online in the last two years compared to all previous years is striking. It probably reflects a growing ability to use the Internet, an increase in sites and applications, increased TV watching online and increased purchasing online. Also, hours online may have increased because of the recession. Going online is free; going out usually costs money.

TABLE 1
ONLINE FROM HOME, WORK OR OTHER LOCATION - TRENDS 1995–2009
“At home/at work/at another location, do you personally use a computer to Access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
"Excluding email, how many hours per week, on average, do you typically spend on the Internet or World Wide Web?"
Base: All adults
	Online Adults				Average (Mean) Hours Per Week Spent Online
	Total	Online at Home	Online at Work	Online at Other Location
	%	%	%	%
2009 – July/October	80	76	40	32	13
2008 - October/October	81	75	43	32	14
2007 - July/October	79	72	37	31	11
2006 - February/April	77	70	35	22	9
2005 - February/April	74	66	36	21	9
2004 - June/ August	73	65	34	17	8
2003 - October/December	69	61	31	16	9
2002 - November/December	67	57	28	18	7
2001 - September/October	64	52	28	19	7
2000 - October/November	63	49	29	17	7
1999 - December	56	46	N/A	N/A	7
1998 - January/February	35	22	22	N/A	N/A
1997 - May/June	30	16	18	N/A	N/A
1996 - June/September	19	16	16	N/A	N/A
1995 - September/November	9	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Note: N/A means “not asked”

TABLE 2
HOURS SPENT EACH WEEK ONLINE – BY AGE
“How many hours per week do you typically spend on the Internet or World Wide Web?”At home/at work/at another
Base: Online users
	Total	Age
		18-24	25-29	30-39	40-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Less than 1 hour	1	-	-	1	1	1	4
1 – 2 hours	19	19	19	9	22	22	29
3 – 5 hours	24	23	16	30	22	24	22
6 – 7 hours	6	5	6	4	7	7	11
8 – 15 hours	27	33	22	29	25	25	21
16 – 23 hours	7	5	11	8	9	7	5
24 – 168 hours	14	15	26	19	12	13	7
MEAN	13	14	17	18	17	15	8

TABLE 3
PURCHASED ONLINE IN LAST MONTH – BY AGE
“Last month did you purchase any products or services over the Internet?”
Base: Online users
	Total	Age
		18-24	25-29	30-39	40-49	50-64	65+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Yes	50	35	41	62	56	54	37
No	50	64	58	38	44	46	63
Not sure	*	1	1	-	-	-	1
Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% because of rounding.

TABLE 4
PC AND INTERNET USE - TRENDS 1995-2009
”Do you personally use a computer at home, work or another location?”
“At home/at work/at another location, do you personally use a computer to Access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
Base: All adults
	Proportion of All Adults (from work, home, school or other location)		Percent of Computer Users Who Are Online
	Use PC	Are Online
	%	%	%
2009 - July/October	82	80	98
2008 - October/October	83	81	98
2007 - July/October	81	79	97
2006 - February/April	81	77	95
2005 - February/April	79	74	94
2004 - June/ August	78	73	93
2003 - October/December	75	69	92
2002 - November/December	74	67	92
2001 - September/October	73	64	88
2000 - October/November	74	63	85
1999 - December	69	56	81
1998 - January/February	63	35	56
1997 - May/June	61	30	49
1996 - June/September	54	19	35
1995 - September/November	50*	9	18
Notes:
1. All samples of 2,000 or more adults, conducted by telephone.
2. "Are Online" includes all adults who use Internet from home, office, school, library or other location.
* Estimated from other sources.

TABLE 5
ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF ADULTS WHO ARE ONLINE (IN MILLIONS)
“At home/at work/at another location, do you personally use a computer to Access the Internet/World Wide Web?”
Base: All adults
			In Millions
		2009 - July/October*	184
		2008 - October/October	184
		2007 - July/October	178
		2006 - February/April	172
		2005 - February/April	163
		2004 - June/August	156
		2003 - October/December	146
		2002 - November/December	140
		2001 - September/October	127
		2000 - October/November	121
		1999 - December	113
		1998 - January/February	70
		1997 - May/June	59
		1996 - June/September	33
		1995 - September/November	17.5
*Based on July 2008 U.S. Census estimate released January 2009 (230,117,000 total adults aged 18 or over)

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States July 7 and 12 and October 13 and 18, 2009 among 2,029 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.