Internet usage

Facebook will today announce that it has reached 500 million users. This number is incredible, and perhaps even more impressive is the rate at which the social network is growing. Just five months ago they had 400 million users. The site’s user base has grown by 25% in less than half a year. Incredible stuff.

The UK’s digital champion (Martha Lane Fox) has announced plans to get everybody of working age in Britain online by the end of the current Parliament.

There are currently 10 million Britons who are not using the Internet and a lot of these people are 65+.

This is a great video showing how older people can get online, with a bit of help.

In this case the video shows a group of people in Hackney, East London, who are clearly enjoying themselves and getting the skills to use the Internet. Well done Age Concern Hackney.

In December 2008, global consumers spent an average of just over three hours on social networks. In December 2009, they were spending over five and a half hours on average. An increase of 82%.

We wrote a couple of weeks ago about the role of mobile in the Japanese social networking market. It is a market where consumer internet use is driven as much by mobile devices as by PCs. Japan, and other Asian markets, are known for having more established mobile internet usage than in Europe, America or elsewhere. Therefore it is great to see a report that highlights the growth and development of the the global mobile internet marketing.