Internet Usage and Motivation
Of the 7 billion people on earth, 2.4 billion use the internet meaning almost 35% of the worlds’ population uses the internet. [1] Elroy Jopling, research director at Gartner, said in an article in 2008: “The Internet has become a utility for most consumers, who use it for communicating, gathering information and performing financial transactions. However, a new ‘trickle down’ phenomenon, where teenagers lead the evolution of consumer Internet applications, heralds a new era where Internet applications will mimic life — communicating, entertaining, socializing, informing, transactional, either in a fixed location or on the move.” [2]
Number of internet users in the world. Figure from World Internet Stats.
Number of internet users by continent. Figure from Google Public Data.
Top 6 reasons people used the internet in 2008Â [3]:
1. Use e-mail
2. Gather information
3. Online banking
4. Sharing photos, videos, and files
5. Geographic navigation services
6. Shopping online
15 Most Popular Uses of Web as of 2011Â [4]:
1. Web surfing
2. Email and chatting
3. Social Networking
4. Videos
5. Online Business
6. Job Sites
7. News and Information
8. Classified Ads
9. Blogs
10. Downloads
11. Online payments
12. Online Banking
13. File sharing
14. Online games
15. Online Dating
(for another list of popular internet uses, along with the percent of users who perform such activities, see this page)
Reasons for using the internet according to age group. Figure from Ofcom.