Online Activities

How many Americans are doing what online

Have an idea for an online business?

Pew Internet & American Life Project continually monitors the activities of our fellow citizens online. This is a good place to start if you want to know how big the audience is for your particular product or service.

You should also get an idea about the efficiency of various forms of social marketing.

75% of American adults use the internet. Listed below are the activities and the percent of internet users who reported engaged in that online activity:

Send or read e-mail 92%

Use a search engine to find information 91%

Search for a map or driving directions 86%

Look for info on a hobby or interest 83%

Look for information online about a service or product you are thinking of buying 81%

Look for health/medical info 80%

Check the weather 78%

Get travel info 73%

Get news 71%

Buy a product 66%

Visit a local, state or federal government website 66%

Buy or make a reservation for travel 64%

Surf the Web for fun 62%

Go to a website that provides info or support for a specific medical condition or personal situation 58%

Research for school or training 57%

Watch a video clip or listen to an audio clip 56%

Look for "how-to," "do-it-yourself" or repair information 55%

Look up phone number or address 54%

Do any banking online 53%

Take a virtual tour of a location online 51%

Do any type of research for your job 51%

Watch a video on a video-sharing site like YouTube or Google Video 48%

Look online for news or information about politics or the upcoming campaigns 47%

Look online for info about a job 46%

Get sports scores and info online 45%

Get info online about a college, university or other school you or a family member might attend 45%

Download other files such as games, videos, or pictures 42%

Get financial info online, such as stock quotes or mortgage interest rates 41%

Send instant messages 39%

Look for info about a place to live 39%

Read someone else’s online journal or blog 39%

Download computer programs from the internet 39%

Pay bills online 38%

Download music files to your computer 37%

Upload photos to a website so you can share them with others online 37%

Get financial info online, such as stock quotes or mortgage interest rates 36%

Look for information on Wikipedia 36%

Look for religious/spiritual info 35%

Send or receive text messages using a cell phone 35%

Play online games 35%

Listen to music online at a website 34%

Rate a product, service or person using an online rating system 32%

Use online classified ads or sites like Craig’s list 32%

Post a comment or review online about a product you bought or a service you received 30%

Listen to a live or recorded radio broadcast online, such as a newscast, sporting event, or radio show 29%

Pay to access or download digital content online 28%

Categorize or tag online content like a photo, news story or blog post 28%

Search for info about someone you know or might meet 28%

Participate in an online auction 26%

Download video files to your computer 27%

Share files from own computer with others 27%

Research your family’s history or genealogy online 25%

Log on to the internet using a wireless device 25%

Download screen savers from the internet 23%

Post comments to an online news group, website, blog or photo site 22%

Chat in a chat room or in an online discussion 22%

Share something online that you created yourself 21%

Download computer games from the internet 21%

Create content for the internet 19%

Make a donation to a charity online 18%

View live images online of a remote location or person, using a webcam 17%

Use an online social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or Friendster 16%

Sell something online 15%

Create or work on your own webpage 14%

Create or work on web pages or blogs for others, including friends, groups you belong to, or for work 13%

Make a phone call online 13%

Visit an adult website 13%

Take a class online just for personal enjoyment or enrichment 13%

Participate in an online discussion, a listserv, or other online group forum that helps people with personal issues or health problems 12%

Download a podcast so you can listen to it or view it at a later time 12%

Send or receive an invitation to a meeting or party using an online invitation service 12%

Take a class online for credit toward a degree 12%

Create or work on your own online journal or blog 12%

Buy or sell stocks, bonds, or mutual funds 11%

Take material you find online—like songs, text or images—and remix it into your own artistic creation 11%

Go to a online dating website or other site where you can meet people online 11%

Create or use an avatar or online graphic representation of yourself, for example, in a virtual world such as Second Life 6%

Download or share adult content online 4%

Last updated: February 15, 2008

NOTE: If you followed an outside link to get to this page, please refer to the Latest Trends section of the Pew website to ensure that you are viewing the most recent version of this table.

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