How The World Spends Its Time Online

Visual Economics recently released an infographic detailing how the world spends its time on the Internet. I really love infographics, not only because they make statistics interesting but also because I think some can look really beautiful.

I found this data very interesting. Apparently the general population does not use the Internet that much and a very small percentage use the Internet for tasks considered stalwarts of the web. For example, in America, only 5% will play online videogames or buy something online every day. Even more interesting I find that only 10% read blogs daily and only 15% will use social networking sites daily. That's pretty crazy if you ask me! I thought everyone used social networks a lot? The dawn of the web 2.0 era has seen the web go social network mad. Now everything is a social network! Of course, email is very popular (45% of users email daily) but with the Internet often regarded as a human right, the modern world's greatest invention and so on, it's surprising that not everyone uses it daily.

Of course, as a tech feek I probably use the Internet more than the non-tech inclined. I use the Internet more than any other means of entertainment. I watch television throughthe Internet, play videogames, write blogs, read blogs, read up information, engage in online social networking etc. Of course, it's always important to lead a balanced life so I make sure I have a lot of offline interests too. What's really interesting though is many industries are saying the Internet has resulted in a huge loss of revenue and they are struggling to meet the market demands of the web. However, only 30% read the news from the Internet. This is very interesting as perhaps it shows people still prefer traditional methods of receiving the news (television, newspapers, radio and so on).

Nonetheless, this information really does surprise me. What's not surprising is that 40% of people search on the Internet daily. Shockingly, the top 10 search terms are often made up of the most common and simple domains. For example, people searchfor 'Facebook' rather than typing it in their address bar or having a bookmark. It might seem only a couple more seconds of time wasted by multiple that by however many websites people visit, over however many days/months/years and you're looking at a stretch of time that could be used elsewhere! Why not try myhomepage.com. It's a free online password manager, bookmarking tool and personalized homepage.