demographics
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Hitting the Books: America needs a new public data system
In the excerpt below, Lane illustrates the challenges that government employees face when given incomplete or biased data and still expected to do their duties, as well as the enormous benefits we can reap when data is effectively and ethically leveraged for the public good. Democratizing Our Data is already available on Amazon Kindle and will be for sale in print on September 1st.
Facebook used its AI smarts to build detailed disease prevention maps
Facebook has created highly detailed population maps to help health organizations, researchers and universities tackle disease outbreaks and plan public health campaigns. They focus on population density with demographic estimates, how people move and network coverage.
Pew: Twitter users are younger and more Democratic than most Americans
A recent report from the Pew Research Center says Twitter users are younger, more highly educated, have higher incomes and are more likely to identify as Democrats compared to the general public. They're also more likely to support immigration and see evidence of racial- and gender-based inequality in society. This might be surprising given how loud opposing views can appear on the platform.
Facebook will show who paid for political ads in the UK
Facebook is pushing its transparency agenda again, this time with the introduction of a tool that reveals information about political ads in the UK. From today, all advertisers that run ads in the UK referencing political figures and parties, elections and legislation before parliament will have to verify their location and identity, and the adverts will have to carry a "paid for by" disclaimer.
Final Fantasy XI gives more details on Adoulin for those who seek it
Final Fantasy XI is encouraging players to go west. Specifically, it's encouraging players to head west of the game's familiar continents to the city of Adoulin in the appropriately titled Seekers of Adoulin expansion. So it's probably in the best interests of players to know more about what Adoulin is all about, something that the most recent post on the official site discusses in depth. Adoulin as a name refers to both the city, more properly called the Sacred City of Adoulin, and the archipelago surrounding the main city. The city itself was originally the lynchpin of colonization efforts, but when attempts to colonize the main continent of Ulbuka were aborted two hundred years ago, the nation underwent several drastic changes to adapt to reduced living space and a need for mercantile expansion. Now the colonization is starting up again, something that will most likely serve as the main source of conflict within the expansion proper. For more details, including racial demographics and a preview of some of the major sights in the city, take a look at the full rundown.
Pew Research finds 22 percent of adults in US own tablets, low-cost Android on the rise
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that more Americans than ever now own tablets, but if you'd ever wanted some quantifiable data to go along with that homespun wisdom, then the Pew Research Center is glad to help. According to its latest report, 22 percent of US adults now own a tablet of some form. While the iPad remains the dominant player in the space with a 52 percent market share, this figure starkly contrasts the 81 percent share that Pew reported in 2011. As you might expect, Android tablets have made significant inroads and now account for 48 percent of the overall tablet space. Leading the Android charge is the Kindle Fire, which alone accounts for 21 percent of all tablets sold. It's worth pointing out that Pew's survey was conducted before the release of either the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD, which means that even the most recent information is a bit behind the curve. You'll find a press release after the break that provides a much broader take on Pew's latest findings in the mobile space, but those who want to go straight to the meat should hit up the source link below.
ArcheAge seeks info on Western demographics with survey
For sandbox fans in the Western part of the globe, watching the development of ArcheAge is a bittersweet experience: sweet that a game with so many coveted features is being developed, but bitter that the game is only launching in the East for now. But XL Games has indicated that a Western launch is not so much an "if" as a "when." With that in mind, the fan site ArcheAge Source is seeking fan opinion and information on North American and European demographics through an unofficial survey posted on Facebook. (No Facebook account is needed to take the survey.) The information garnered from responses may be used to shape decisions concerning ArcheAge in the NA and EU markets, but it is mostly for the fan site "to have some statistics to show at Gamescom 2012 and whenever else we have need for them." [Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]
China claims one billion mobile phone users, India shrugs
China claimed 900 million mobile users last April, but back then it still seemed possible that India might reach the billion user milestone first. China was ahead in absolute terms, while India's user base was growing faster. According to the latest figures from its government, however, China is ready to stake its claim. It had 997 million phone owners by late February, with growth of around three million per week, which means it should have tipped the scales in the last few days. Of course, it's not really about who gets there first: The salient fact is that millions more humans can now ring each other up, just, you know, to chat.
Smartphones spread out: Pew says 46 percent of US adults now own one
Our master plan is slowly working, and soon every man and woman in our great nation will own a smartphone. Pew Research Center reports that just under half of adult Americans, or 46 percent, own smartphones currently, meaning that smartphone owners now outnumber their feature phone counterparts by five percent. Pew polled multiple demographics to get its numbers, and there was growth across the board over the last nine months. Of particular interest is the rise in ownership in the study's lowest income demographic -- under $30,000 a year -- which spiked 12 percent to 34 percent. Additionally, it showed that Android and Apple are neck and neck, with 20 and 19 percent market share of mobile owners, respectively, and Blackberry ownership declined from ten percent to six percent. The largest growth came from the 18-24 age group, up 18 to 67 percent. (Who do you think is doing all that checking in on Foursquare?). Of course, you know what they say about statistics, so head on down to the source for a full accounting and form your own opinion of what they mean.
Pew: Tablet, e-reader ownership nearly doubled over the holiday season
The number crunchers over at the Pew Research Center have released another batch of market statistics today, this time, with a focus on tablets. According to the Center's latest survey, 19 percent of all adult Americans now own some form of tablet, marking a nearly twofold increase over figures from a poll conducted in mid-December. E-reader ownership, meanwhile, increased by exactly the same margin over this period, jumping from 10 percent to 19 percent. These numbers also signal a healthy acceleration from the middle of this year, when the slate and reader markets apparently stagnated, ahead of the holiday shopping rush. Overall, about 29 percent of US adults own either a tablet or an e-reader, up from 18 percent last month. You can find more stats and breakdowns at the source link below.
Gamers spending more time streaming video to their consoles, Nielsen finds
Nielsen, the purveyor of all things statistical and demographic, published a new study this week on game console usage within the US. According to the report, released on Wednesday, gamers this year spent notably more time streaming video to their consoles than they did in 2010, due in large part to the growing availability of services like Netflix, Hulu, MLB Network and ESPN3. Xbox 360 users spent 14 percent of their console time streaming video this year (compared with ten percent last year), PlayStation 3 owners devoted 15 percent (nine percent in 2010), and Nintendo Wii users spent a whopping 33 percent -- a 13 percent increase over last year's study. Each console, moreover, seems to appeal to different functions. Xbox 360 users, for example, devoted 34 percent of their time to online gaming, Wii owners spent 55 percent of their console time on offline gaming, and the PS3 was the device of choice for DVD and Blu-Ray viewing, comprising 22 percent of usage. Overall, Nielsen found that usage increased by seven percent over the last year across all three platforms, which suggests that streaming may be keeping us glued to our consoles for even longer. Read more at the source link below.
Mobile devices may outnumber humans in the US, but they can't take our soul
We're not really sure what to make of this, but it looks like Americans may be under siege... from their own cellphones. No, seriously -- according to the latest survey from CTIA, there are now more mobile devices in the US than there are human beings. The trade association's semi-annual statistics show that during the first six months of 2011, the number of wireless subscriptions rose by nine percent over the previous year, to a total of 327.6 million. The combined population of the US, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, by comparison, is around 315 million. That translates to a nationwide wireless penetration rate of 103.9 percent, and, not surprisingly, a 111 percent surge in data usage. CTIA says these results highlight "the industry's need to purchase more spectrum from the federal government," as well as our collective need to get a life. You can find more crunch-able numbers in the full PR, after the break. [Image courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art]
Younger audiences play more freemium games, but 25-34 year-olds pay for them
Flurry's latest post is yet another interesting read on freemium games on the App Store, specifically which age groups are playing them, and which age groups are paying for them. They've used consumer spending data across over 1.4 billion sessions, which means this information is as accurate as you're going to get outside of Apple's own databases. As you can see above, the patterns are interesting. Younger players are the primary users of freemium games, and that's not really surprising -- we've known for a while that the younger generation is downloading and playing more games than anyone else. But that third blue bar is the really interesting one: The people actually paying for freemium games are primarily in the 25-34 age group, right in the middle of the demographics. Sure, they're playing their share of the games, but freemium titles are almost completely funded by that stripe of the age demographic. And when you consider that the average freemium title only really pulls in-app purchases from a small percentage of its audience anyway, that age group becomes even more important. This seems logical, as most successful in-app purchase items are for convenience and time-saving. The 25-34 age group has more money but not as much free time as the younger audience, and thus are willing to shell out for items that help them in the game. But the big question is whether this will change as the years go by. As the younger audience gets older, will they become the main payers for these titles, or just stay the main players? We've only been playing with this model for a few years, and if the younger audience keeps playing without paying, freemium could be a short-lived trend.
iOS outreaches Android when iPod touch, iPad are counted in the mix
Some fascinating statistics have been released by comScore based on its MobiLens marketing analytics service, and the numbers show that iOS devices (including the iPad and iPod touch) outreach the Android platform by a whopping 59 percent in the US market. The comScore numbers show a total installed base of 37,868,000 iOS users in the United States, with Android OS devices lagging behind with only about 23,763,000 users. Those numbers come out to 16.2 percent (Apple) and 10.2 percent (Android) respectively for share of the total US mobile subscriber market. The installed US base of iPhones and iPod touch devices were almost equal, with both device totals approximately twice as high as the number of iPads. That statistic is amazing, considering that the iPad had only been on the market for 10 months at the time that the study was performed. comScore's senior vice president of mobile, Mark Donovan, noted that the numbers indicate that "the Apple ecosystem extends far beyond the iPhone," and that the assumption that the Apple user base is made up of "Apple fanboys" is invalid. [Was anyone assuming that? We doubt it. –Ed.] The comScore study also shows that iPad owners aren't necessarily owners of iPhones. While iPhone owners make up about 27 percent of iPad owners, close to 14 percent of iPad owners had Android phones. The numbers also show that Samsung, LG and Nokia are over-represented among iPad owners in comparison to their shares of the smartphone market. The age demographic for the iPad was a final index created by comScore, and it showed that the age profile is skewed mostly towards those in the 25-34 year old age range. Almost half of iPads are sold to Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, with another 30 percent of the Apple tablets going to the older US demographic over the age of 45. These numbers should be of interest to iOS developers, who may want to start creating apps for an older audience.
TERA releases Community Play Event numbers
If you're a TERA fan but not lucky enough to score an invite to En Masse Entertainment's recent Community Play Event (CPE), you can take heart in the fact that the company has released some information pertaining to all the players who did attend. We know, there's the potential for some salt in the wound here, but En Masse's Jon Tuite nonetheless has some interesting factoids relating to character races, classes, leveling trends, and many other data points. It seems that Castanics were the most popular race during the recent CPE, and humanoid races in general accounted for a whopping 68% of all characters. Tuite also points out that the Baraka race was the least popular (7% of the population) and postulates that the lack of a female version could be the culprit. In terms of class and party dynamics, the CPE data aren't far removed from your average fantasy MMO (i.e., there were a plethora of DPS types, fewer tanks, and even fewer healers). These stats are the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and you can indulge in more number-crunching at the official TERA website.
The Guild Counsel: Are guild leaders a health hazard?
Earlier this week, Massively reported on a poll conducted by Bigpoint concerning gamer stereotypes. The good news is that the results of the voluntary survey showed that gamers are not overweight shut-ins who live in their grandmother's basements. The bad news is that there's some skepticism on the validity of the results, since the poll was a voluntary survey and there's no way to prove that the participants were telling the truth. However, there have been a number of in-depth studies over the years that have shown some surprising trends in who exactly plays MMOs and more importantly what their behavior is like in game. For this week's Guild Counsel, we're going to take a closer look at MMO players and touch on the role that guild leaders might play in steering player behavior in-game.
Raptr report analyzes DC Universe Online players
Raptr, a social networking app for gamers, has turned its eyes to DC Universe Online players in a recent report. By breaking down player demographics, the site was able to piece together common trends and paint an overall picture of the DCUO playerbase. So who is playing DCUO (while using Raptr)? The first bit of surprising news is that these gamers aren't necessarily superhero fanatics, at least not according to the other types of games they play. These players didn't tend to have City of Heroes and Champions Online as their other go-to games in the top 10, for example. Actually, Raptr found that DCUO players are most likely to be into the MMORPG genre as a whole, as well as multiplayer games like Call of Duty: Black Ops and League of Legends. The report speculates that there may be a connection between DCUO's fast action gameplay and these other titles: "While there are a number of MMORPGs listed, it's interesting to see some FPS, and RTS in the mix. This could be because DCUO prides itself in being a deep MMO mixed with action-oriented gameplay more akin to RTS or FPS games." World of Warcraft and EVE Online were the two biggest MMOs that DCUO players also enjoyed, while these players found themselves stealing time away from WoW and Aion to head over to DCUO for their gaming sessions. You can read the full analysis over at Raptr Tracks.
The WoW Factor, page 2
Correct answer: d – older men Men are 4 times as likely as women to gender-bend in WoW. The older a male player is, the more likely they are to gender-bend.
The WoW Factor: How much do you know about the players behind the avatars?
How much do you think you know about your fellow WoW gamers? WoW Insider brings you this exclusive quiz designed by MMORPG researcher Nick Yee, based on actual U.S. data from the PARC PlayOn 2.0 study linking player survey data with their armory data. Think you know what players are really like? Come find out what your WoW Factor is. (Answers and conclusions following the quiz.) 1. The average age of WoW players is: a. 18 b. 24 c. 30 d. 36 2. Which of these groups of players is most likely to be gender-bending? a. younger women (<30) b. older women (>30) c. younger men (<30) d. older men (> 30)
The app market, by the numbers
The very insightful Stuart Dredge over at Mobile Entertainment has compiled an amazing primer on all of the numbers behind the app market (which you can also see by clicking the "Read More" link, although it's not viewable on an iPad or iPhone). If you want to know anything about how many apps are rolling out of the store, how many apps are installed on the average device, or what kinds of apps those are, Dredge's presentation will tell you. It's a really excellent compilation of everything we know about the App Store and the app market at large thus far. I don't think anything here is new or really that surprising. We already know that Apple is, by far, leading the race on number of apps (both created and sold), and we've heard before that games tend to do very well on the marketplace in a number of demographics. The end of the report has some great numbers, too, on standout applications like Angry Birds and the eBay app. Otherwise, it's basically a big round-up of a lot of the stats that we've heard so far. But having them all in one place gives a nice overview of just how big this little software ecosystem has become.
