Internet Use On The Up And Up--Is Anyone Surprised?
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.
![](https://hothardware.com/newsimages/Item11778/web-faceup-1.jpg)
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
OnlineTotal Online at
HomeOnline
at WorkOnline 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 OnlineUse 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.