Pew does great work. Researchers have just added a study about the changes internet usage between 2005 and 2009. It's a must read.

posted by Jason Ohler
Oct 21, 2009

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Pew, the Internet & You

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I love the Pew Foundation's Internet and American Life Project. Pew committed to understanding the social implications of the internet and social networking some time ago. Because of their early commitment, they have been able to track the changes that the rest of just philosophize about.

Amanda Lenhart has just released the PowerPoint preso, The Democratization of Online Social Networks, through the Pew Internet project. She looked at changes in internet use since 2005. Here are some are takeaways:

79% of American adults used the internet in 2009, up from 67% in Feb. 2005
46% of online American adults 18 and older use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 8% in February 2005.
65% of teens 12-17 use online social networks as of Feb 2008, up from 58% in 2007 and 55% in 2006.

Male/Female Use:

2005: Slightly more male (55% male vs. 45% female)
2009: Skews more female (54% female vs. 46% male)

Education:

In 2005: Highly educated; 45% of SNS users have a college or advanced degree, 35% of whole internet pop has same
In 2009: levels look like internet using population

Urban/rural:

In 2005: Urban, but no regional differences
In 2009: Urban tilt has disappeared – though rural areas still lag slightly

Read all about it. I highly recommend it.

(Image: screen shot of the PowerPoint preso referenced above.)