When it comes to internet use, we certainly didn’t expect it to decrease, even before we’d heard of COVID-19. But the number of people using the internet daily, if not constantly, is somewhat staggering.
Pew Research Center talked to 1,502 US adults by phone between January 25 and February 8, 2021 for this survey—the first time it’s done this research since 2019. The results showed a significant increase in the percentage of people going online once a day, several times a day, and “almost constantly.”
Add those together, and it’s 85% of respondents using the internet at least every day. A mere 6% said it was “only” once per day.
Of those using the internet constantly, that’s 31%—up from 21% in 2015 and 28% in 2019.
That number varies crazily when you break it down by age: 48% of constant users are ages 18 to 29, 42% are 30 to 49, and 22% are 50 to 64. The lowest number was the generation over age 65, at 8%.
It’s almost as stark in the difference between urban (37%), suburban (30%), and rural (23%) users, which is music to Starlink’s ears. Likewise, more college grads stay online constantly (42%) than do those with some college (29%) or those with just a high school education (23%).
The fluctuations are much tamer when compared by race, gender, or income. The exception is households where the income is $75,000 per year or higher, which makes a big jump up to 40% constant use, compared to the average 28.7% for homes below $75K.
For more, read the full report at Pew Research’s Fact Tank.
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