We do like a pretty chart around here, and these latest ones from Nielsen are positively gorgeous. The internet stat-keeper has come out of a particularly hot and heavy research session with the conclusion that American online habits are a-changing. The unstoppable juggernaut that is
social networking (23 percent) leads the way on computers, with
online gaming (10 percent) now joining it in second place, and email ousted to an unhappy third (8 percent). The slack in electronic postage is being picked up by mobiles, however, with 42 percent of cellular internet time dedicated to exchanging messages the old fashioned way. Video streaming has shown double digit growth relative to last year, but remains a comparatively small part of what US interneters do. One thing we find humorous in the data is that 34 percent of all web time spent on computers is bundled into Nielsen's "Other" category -- any ideas on what people might be doing during that time?
posted August 5th 2010 9:18AM
Guess that makes me un-American. Email at home
and don't "social" network at all.
I'm displaced.
@sharkync me too, I like getting email on my phone, but I reply to it on my desktop computer almost always, since I can think better about what I want to write on there. Email from phones are better for one liners mostly and quick response needs in working world, but not for consumer and home users. I also don't like the social connectedness, so I stopped trying to do it all from my phone too. Though it makes it nice to be on chat with someone who is sitting behind a computer so you can connect, but I hate being connected all day to social networking sites/tools/apps.
I assume other = pron?
@Forumgod
The internet is for porn.
@Forumgod
that is what i thought. what else could it be? commenting on engadget?
@Forumgod
i though engadget's picture graph had a mistype
how does porn = email?
and email = other
@Forumgod
or shopping?
PERVERTS, ALL OF YOU
@mboudreau
"So grab your d--k, and double-click, for porn, porn, porn!"
@Forumgod That was my first thought as well, but wouldn't most of that be videos in this day and age? Wouldn't that bolster the videos/movies stats? The only explanations I can think of are that live cam feeds don't count as video/movies, they didn't include porn in their research at all, or pornographic photos are still more popular than I thought.
I don't spend 6 minutes and 42s doing that every hour! My skin would peel off.
@bati555
Actually that's just a scale as mentioned. Its the percentage of time / pie chart of the given scale that counts. So if the avg net time was 2 hrs per day, you could multiply each by a factor of 2.
Other than email (and social networking - that I think is more popular with people in the teens - 30's), I've always wondered whether it was worth paying that $30 for data. Assuming you had access to email 24x7 (and most other sites) via a PC. This chart is a very useful indicator of averages. Nice post Engadget. At least for me.
other is equally divided between porn and LOLcats
assuming porn is part of 'video streaming' (hahaha) I'm putting my bets on eBay, fmylife and uh lolcats haha
Should've labeled it: Other * wink wink *
Guess the other, category relative to traffic generated by apps like engadget's one...
I prefer both at home. But I definitely understand the social networking. None of the smartphone Facebook apps are similar enough to the site. They lack applications and several other features.
I always wonder how did they pull off these data? get bunch of test users then generalize? collect stats from the website companies?
@Anh You know that guy you always suspect is looking at your phone while you're on the subway? and that woman who looks like she might have just tried to look at your phone over your shoulder during lunch?
Yep, Nielsen agents.
@Terberculosis Oh, those people! I normally show them my boring emails rather than sexy photos of my friends on Facebook. So this study is definitely biased then.
Anyway, seriously, how do those mobile usage statistics companies work?
where is the looking at pie charts slice?
this is not true to me at all. i only look at email on my droid when i get an email. otherwise i listen to music, surf the web, and tweet.
i'd be willing to bet several figures that "other" = porn
Email, Entertainment, Social networks/Blogs, Search, Videos/Movies, Games and Other = Porn
Come on, everybody knows that 'Other' = porn.
It's why Al Gore invented the internet: to look at Jenna Jameson's store-bought rack all day long. Which is a good reason... just sayin'.
@Johnny Tremaine The internet is older than Jenna's implants. Got any other theories?
What are portals? And how did they get this info, through a survey or did they actually track their sample?
Wow what a useless chart. What ever happened to percentages?
@cloud858rk Well percentages are math, and if you aren't mathematically articulated enough to figure out how to convert minutes of an hour to percentage than you should probably just ctrl+w now.
@engadgetcomexcludeengadget Thanks for the helpful comment. I will now promptly close the window just like you have ever so kindly suggested. In all seriousness, I can convert it. But I'm not going to covert 22 different times just to figure out a percentage. Engadget could just as easily put Nielsen's percentage containing tables instead of the pie charts, but they didn't because "we do like a pretty chart around here." Pretty > informative, fantastic. But seriously, ranting about this isn't benefiting anyone, unless you really did want to know my opinion on the matter.
I think porn would be included in media. I'm thinking other would be reading the results of your searches, the news, et c.
Other...
Besides porn, I think other could include news/information sites, educational sites, online banking, online shopping, personal/family websites, online account management/bill-paying(utilities, cable/satellite TV, ISPs, cellphone, etc.), and P2P file sharing.