Number of American Internet users continues to rise

In the last seven years the number of American adults on the Internet has grown substantially, with a 10 percent increase in the past twelve months.

by Helen Leggatt

Harris Interactive began tracking Internet use in 1995. At that time, just 9 percent of U.S. adults were online. In 2000 that percentage had increased to 57 percent and, by 2005, it stood at 74 percent.

This year, 178 million, or 79 percent of the U.S. adult population, are online.

The amount of time U.S. adults spend online is also rising. This year it’s expected the average will reach 11 hours a week, up one hour a week from a year ago.

The survey saw a slight rise in the number of people accessing the Internet from home or at work but a larger rise in the number of adults who access the Internet via an alternative route, up from 22 percent last year to 31 percent today.

With the figures nearing 100 percent, Regina Corso, director of Harris Poll, thinks it’s time to look at other ways that users are accessing the Internet. "It's not just a laptop or a desktop anymore,” said Corso. “How many of these people are using some kind of hand held device for all of their online activity?"