Google is the most visited website on earth (not a surprise). But Chinese search engine Baidu is #4. Yahoo is (still!) #11, Wikipedia comes in at #13, and Zoom (despite its associated fatigue) is the 18th most-visited site, right behind Reddit.
Those are just a few of the findings from the recently-released Digital 2021 Global Overview Report, compiled by We Are Social and Hootsuite.
A recent post here detailed 12 Fascinating Facts About Global Internet Use in 2021, compiled from that report. Here are 15 more intriguing and actionable stats and facts pulled from that research.
General Internet Use Statistics
- 98% of Internet users (globally, aged 16-64) say they use conventional search engines (the other 2% likely didn’t understand the question). 45% search for brand information on social media, and the same percentage use voice search, whether they are searching internet near me or looking for the latest fashion brands.
- What do those Internet users do while online? 91% watch online videos, 51% visit video blogs, and 44% watch and/or listen to podcasts. 70% globally (82% in the U.S.) watch online streaming services such as Netflix. 87% play video games (that seems high).
- A third of Internet users worldwide (42% in the U.S.) say they are “worried about how companies use their personal data online.” Apparently, the rest don’t understand how the Internet works.
- Just 29% of males aged 25-34 say they are worried about how companies use their personal data. That is sad.
- 43% of Internet users globally use ad blockers (seems high).
Social Media Facts and Stats
- There are 4.2 billion active social media users worldwide (almost 54% of all people on earth). 4.15 billion access social media sites at least on occasion using a mobile device.
- The number of global social media users has nearly doubled since 2016 (from 2.3 billion to 4.2 billion).
- 79% of all Internet users in northern and western Europe are active on social media, as are 74% of Internet users in North America and 72% in both southern Europe and South America.
- That said, nearly three-quarters of all the world’s social media users are in Asia. 14% are in Europe; 8% in South America; and just 7% in North America.
- Almost three-quarters (73.6%) of all social media users are between the ages of 18 and 44. 57.4% are between 18 and 34.
- The average Internet user spends nearly two and a half hours per day on social media and has eight different social media accounts. More than 40% of Internet users access social media for work purposes.
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- That said, the amount of time spend on social media correlates very strongly with age and gender. Young women (aged 16-24) spend nearly three times as long (3 hours, 14 minutes) on social media sites daily, on average, as do older men (aged 55-64; 1 hour, 21 minutes). Average daily time spent using social media increased by 25% from 2015 to 2020.
- Globally, Facebook is the most widely used social network (no surprise), followed by YouTube, WhatsApp (seriously?), Instagram, and then Chinese spyware applications WeChat and TikTok.
- Overall, 45% of Internet users say they use social networks to seek out information about brands. But as with time spent on social media, this correlates linearly with age. 53% of young Internet users (aged 16-24) search for brand information on social networks, compared to just 28% of users aged 55-64 who do so.
- On the other hand, there’s very little correlation between age and the use of social media for work purposes. 40% of the youngest age cohort report using social media for work, compared to 39% of those aged 45-54.
The Wrap (For Now)
Again, there’s much more in the We Are Social / Hootsuite report, which will likely be revisited in future posts here. Next up: stats for each major social network. Stay tuned.