The State of the Internet
Here we take a look at exactly who is using the Internet the most, how they are using it and how much the amount of usage is increasing. At a glance, we can see that there are the same number of men and women who use the Internet. However, their age, educational background and level of income may influence how much time they spend online.



73 Comments
Add a comment
i want japan's internet. period.
(19) (2)
Flag
Flagged
Why two pie charts?
(6) (8)
Flag
Flagged
Another interesting demographic trend: women between the ages of 30-39 create a disproportionate amount of UGC online.
(5) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I almost love this infographic.
Thanks Dr. @JimMacMillan, for your Tweet of wisdom, always!
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Does infrastructure size and/or commercialization create legitimate and/or false limitations to bandwidth access in the U.S? We protect gas-guzzler car sales by limiting consumer access to legitimate alternatives despite the hypocrisy. Do we do/allow the same thing in Internet access? I'd like to know.
(2) (1)
Flag
Flagged
Interesting (but not surprising) that the younger crowd (late teens to late twenties) have the highest penetration of internet use but the lowest penetration of bloggers (thought the age ranges in the two charts - internet use vs blog use - are not identical)
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
This is nice analysis, could i get from India analysis.if possible please post it.
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Fascinating. My favorite stat: How do bloggers describe their style? 75% Sincere. Love that.
(2) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Why is Tweens (age range 9-16) not taken into account? We play, blog, twit and research in the internet using desktop computers, laptops and mobile phones. We log on everyday. I have been blogging since 2008 and i know a lot of people my age who have been doing that years before me. While I am sure we will not beat the 18-29yos, we might give the middle-agers a running.
You don't think so? Check out how much richer we've made the owners of Virtual Worlds that caters to tweens.
Count in the tweens and your results might change drastically.
(4) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Lady Maryann has a point. Sincere ratings at 74% for bloggers adds up since they are in the 'older' age category and we are serious about using the internet wisely, to assist others improve their lives and basically, for honourable purposes.
(1) (1)
Flag
Flagged
What an awesoem and classic mistake on the map. The arrow of the Netherlands points towards Denmark. Here I was thinking it was an urban legend that people think they are the same :P
(2) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I'd be interested to see where the country data came from. As far as I know, Canada and the Bahamas are usually in the top 5 in terms of internet penetration. But I guess it all depends on who gathered the data.
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Can you explaint the "Which age uses internet the most stats?" Because internet penetration in the world is cca. 25 %, so how could it be, that 70 % of people aged 50-64 use it. It also doesn't make sense if we try to interpret the data as 70 % of all internet users are aged 50-64. So what does it mean?
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
I'm a bit confused about Which age group uses internet the most? section. There's no way 70 % of 50-64 age group uses internet if 25 % of world population uses internet. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm Also, we cannot interpret data as 70 % of internet users are aged 50-64, so what does it actually mean?
(1) (2)
Flag
Flagged
I'm seeing this touted as a great infographic. On the otherhand, I see it as an example of how small errors or gaps in data taint the potential effectiveness of a nice visual.
1) It's unclear where(what country/countries) does the first group of percentages come from? I guess if you find the "comes from Internet and American Life study" cite near the end of that "section", you can assume it's the US, but that could be made clearer in the headlines and by better sectioning.
2) The problem with the Netherlands arrow pointing to Denmark.
Even just these two quibbles made me want to look more for errors than for whatever it was the graphic was supposed to be telling me.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Bravo!
You obviously get data visualization.
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Great information. I can't believe how fast Japan is.
I linked to you on my blog. www.bumbleclot.com
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
If you have to explain how to interpret the data (i.e. describing the significance of the dots), then it's already overly complex.
the dots are distracting - the differences would be much easier to discern on a simple bar chart.
(1) (2)
Flag
Flagged
Miss Cellica: Notice the 2 Pie charts add up to 104% therefore combining the 2 does not make sense. How, you ask? Well there would be a percentage that own both (desktop and Laptop) and a percentage that owns neither.
(2) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Mike, Some people learn visually better than others. I like this format, at a glance I can tell the percentage and it gets away for the non-colorful, boring Excel format.
(2) (0)
Flag
Flagged
"Internet Penetration" sounds dirty but really isn't
(4) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Great infographic! Very illustrative... although I'd like to know, what are the information sources that you've used. Also I think it would be good to add the "numbers" (not only the percentage) in order to have a clearer idea of the "state".
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Minor mistake. "Which age group uses the internet most?" 50-64 is missing a line of white dots. It looks like 70/90 use it in that group.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
"Gail Hyatt
Fascinating. My favorite stat: How do bloggers describe their style? 75% Sincere. Love that."
Hahaha.. I was just thinking that.. Yea... RIGHT!!!!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
@ josh, and do you believe them being sincere ;)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
@JuAn at eh bottom of each section the sources are listed. PEW, Technorati, and Akamai appear to be the main sources
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Awesome - nice work. Can I post this on my blog with a link back here?
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
All of the small-dot representations (e.g. for which age groups use the internet how much), have 11 columns.
Also, you've represented 70% (percentage of 50-64-year-olds using the internet) as 70/90 dots.
Neat idea, but probably work on counting before publishing.....?
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Sorry, I mean 77/99 dots, obviously (giving 77%); as opposed to 89/110 (81%) for the previous group.
Obviously my math skills could be sharper as well...
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Enjoyed this infographic. I would like to see a few of the countries to the right of the USA on the chart showing comparative broadband speed. Yes, the USA has slower broadband than Japan and Korea: who are we faster than?
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
¬¬ weon si por una gallina te dan 5 y un dia... POR HACER UNA DE LAS PEORES PELICULAS DE LA HISTORIA DEBERIA NO SSER MENOR A ESO... como el culo... el director es totalmente limitao y el guionista creo que podria estar catalogao como IMBECIL con tendencia la mediocridad... wn que mal rato ma ensima la vi entera aver si mejoraba en algun momento la weba... que rabiaaaaa
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
lo sieno me equivoque de cualquier manera...les dejo el dato... no vean The Steam Experiment.... por nada del mundo!!!!! (agradeceria que el webmaster... borrara mis comentarios ;P)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I have Japanese internet... It's amazing. Movies downloaded in seconds.
Oh and its cheaper than internet in the US.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I am unable to visualize the Janpan's internet spped!
(1) (1)
Flag
Flagged
I'd like to say that in Downtown Portand, OR I regularly cloaked 24mbps, im in Tampa FL now and am lucky to get 3mbps. where you live matters! the US is Big! It's not Japan, that is the size of one of our 50 states!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Nice, but you're pointing at Denmark, not the Netherlands.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Yeah... that's painful, pointing at Denmark instead of the Netherlands...
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
My husband and I received at home( few months ago), 6 persons: 65 years old swedish ladies for a small training " How to create & maintain a website" they were all well organized , asking for very clever questions and all of them had a brand new laptop, I was very impressed!
I'm not surprised to see scandinavian countries on Top of the list!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
@Ms Cellania, some people own both. 46% + 58% makes it difficult to show 104% of a pie.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Since 1960, "kilo" as a prefix for 1000 is written with a lowercase 'k'.
Similarly, the lowercase 'm' has always been the sign for "milli", one-thousandth. The prefix for "mega", one million, has always been the capital 'M'.
Using these prefixes wrong does not really add to the scientific credibility of the site, or to the statistics shown on it.
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
Nice review/stats :)
I think people age 11-17 (or people that are younger than 18 anyway) should also be included, though. Maybe next year? :)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
And dude, that's not the Netherlands, that's Denmark! (use google maps or something, :P).
Oh, and did I say the graphics also look great? Hm, I guess I didn't, but now I did :).
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Very intressting Post. I like the way the grafics look. Thanks for that
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Thanks for the nice visual, but I agree with Mike. The dots are a bit distracting - it would be much easier to understand using a simple bar chart.
If anyone creates onet, please let me know
Jim
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
millions and millions on lobbyists whining for laws to protect the usa internet providers and millions and millions spent on deceptive and vague at best advertising ( . . .$ for the first 3 months type gimmicks) instead of investment in infrastructure.
korea, may i borrow a cup of your internet, please
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Omg not fair!!!!! I want to be Japanese!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Nice job, but:
Where was thies search made?
Was it world wide users?
Where is the credits?
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
japan fly
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
From a scientific standpoint, this data is meaningless. It states "74 percent of men use the internet" but doesn't state precisely from what group this was collected. Is it 74 percent of all men on the planet? or 74% of american or european men? or possibley 74% of men on the planet use the internet?
I seriosly doubt that many regularly use the internet. Possilbey 74% have used it in their lives but "use" suggests regular use.
Its pretty but meaningless.
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
@Frans
Since the internet, lowercase "m" in mbps has meant mega"bits", not "bytes." An uppercase "M" would represent megaBYTES. Same with kilo, lowercase means bits, upper means bytes; confusing, isn't it? When talking about connection speeds, we usually estimate in megabits and kilobytes, hence the lowercase "m" and uppercase "K" used in the infographic.
I apologize for all the quotes but I'm afraid I don't know how to italicize here.
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Ha Ha! What about Iran?! I live is Iran but the fastest Internet speed is 512 KBPS! and the persons older than 40 don't know what Internet is!
My DSL Speed is 256kbps, I pay for it every month about 12$ (USA). (12$ is my income of 12 hours working!) and I have only 1.5 gigabyte transfer limit at a month!
I prefer to use smoke for communication!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
خوش به حالتان که اینترنت به این خوبی دارید
(2) (0)
Flag
Flagged
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/the-cost-to-offer-the-worlds-fastest-broadband-20-per-home/
We have sucessfully concluded why Japan outdoes everybody. Today, the Web tomorrow the world, Pinky! (But in Japanese, so: "今日インターネット、明日世界, Pinky!")
Hats off to the fact it only cost them $20 a household.
-www.taxfiling.net
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
well' i got 1 mb from my govt ans this is not enough
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
well' i got 1mb and this is not enough at all
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Japan internet for me too!!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
State of the State of the Internet 2009
82% Dot charts
7% Bar charts
7% pie charts
4% maps
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I would like to point out the following to everybody that is jealous of the speeds attainable in other countries.
1. These countries are not hampered by insane telco regulations.
2. These countries are small in size which costs enormous amounts less to install infrastructure.
3. These countries mostly have new infrastructure whereas ours has been around for a very long time and they are marginally upgraded at times to try and cope with the amount of usage.
4. Just an interesting fact is that less than 10% of internet users use 90% of the available bandwidth. These are your gamers and file sharing gurus. Most others browse a couple of websites and send email which are low bandwidth activities. However I will say that online TV is spiking this trend as more and more people catch their missed shows online.
5. Never fear - Broadband companies are very aware that they are starting to lose their monopolies to other start-ups that will provide what the people want and will soon step up or go under.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I love it! Wonderful graphic...
;-)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
@Miss Cellania
Because there is overlap (some people have both).
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Good job, but there is missing point here I think:):) how about Turkey? where is it in these graphics:):)it leads among other countries in terms of users of internet:):)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Today in Turkey,
9 women were stoned to death, 6 witches where burnt and 3 deformed childred put down.
Turkish holidays r us!
(0) (1)
Flag
Flagged
What's the stats on shoppers on the internet?
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I would also love to see a version of this that's global - both collectively and natl comparisons - rather than US specific. I loved the two graphs that did have global comparisons; the most illuminating of the project.
Appreciate the work that went into this. thanks.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
I have a collection of visualization charts for internet users and uses. All charts tell more words than you imagine.
http://www.imagingdesk.com/technology/charts-of-internet-users-and-uses-for-website-owner/
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Interesting & useful stats. i did translate your infographic to Arabic :
http://www.italib.net/2010/03/2009-state-of-internet.html
(1) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Interesting stats
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Wow! What intriguing stats...thanx for sharing! :)
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
...looking at those graphics makes me recall the old often quoted "moore's law" from the late 1990's. all facets of the internet continue to exponentially improve, it would seem, at a moore's law pace- whether it be mbps or penetration. would be nice for the US to catch up to the more advanced european and pacific rim countries.
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
The question is not why two pie charts...but isn't 58% + 46% = 104%?! lolz. Great info none the less!
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Nice going having the netherlands arrow point to fucking Denmark, it's not the same country...
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Very creative, one of the nicer sites I have seen today. Keep up the great work.
buy tramadol
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
This is really nice information me, i am doing blogging since 2004 and must who where people are growing. so this information really helpful to me.
Thanks
(0) (0)
Flag
Flagged
Add a comment