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WEB LINKS FEATURE FOR DECEMBER
Staying on Top of the Net

In this month's feature, I offer a summary of available statistics and resource sites which tell more about the amazing growth of this new information source. For further information about trends of Internet use and growth is available from the website Staying on Top of Cyberspace.

Topics include:

How big is the Net?


According to the latest information provided by the Network Wizards organization, the following information about the growth of the Net (both Internet and World Wide Web) is known:

  • Based on its latest figures available from Network Wizards in an Internet domain survey conducted in July 1997, there are more than 19.5 million host computers on the Internet worldwide, an increase of over 50 percent from 12.8 million hosts one year earlier.

  • According to a full 3-year growth analysis by Network Wizards, host growth during the past three years (from July 1994 to July 1997) grew six times, from 3.2 million in 1994 to 19.5 million by July 1997, while domain growth during this same period went from 46,000 in 1994 to 1.3 million in 1997.

  • Between July 1996 and July 1997, the number of Internet domains worldwide nearly quadrupled, from 488,000 to 1.3 million. Concise definitions of hosts, domains, and other Internet-related concepts are provided under Network Wizards' Domain Survey Definitions page.

  • Detailed summaries of the growth and variety of hosts and domains existing on the Internet, listed by alphabetical name (for example: "edu", "us", "com") as well as by numbers of domains (in decreasing order) are also available.

  • Network Wizards estimates in its research notes that there is just no precise way to measure the true number of users of the Internet at any given time.



How Many People Use the Net?


According to the latest research conducted by Intelliquest, an information technology market research firm:

  • There were approximately 56 million U.S. users of online services (Internet, World Wide Web, and related services) in the third quarter of 1997. This represents 27 percent of the U.S. population age 16 or older.

  • Almost 5 million users first came online within the past 3 months alone (June to September, 1997)

  • An additional 16 million individuals intend to begin accessing the Internet or online services in the year ahead.

  • The average amount of time spent online by individuals per week reached nearly 10 hours by the third quarter of 1997.

  • More than 42 percent of the online population currently access the Internet from multiple locations, such as home and work.


Who uses the Net?


One of the best sources for identifying the characteristics of Internet users in the U.S. is the Graphics Visualization & Usability Center (GVU) sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing. Since January 1994, GVU has conducted eight surveys of World Wide Web users. The purpose and goals behind the surveys are outlined in the GVU's survey background information.

The latest complete survey results available from GVU are based on its 7th survey, conducted in April 1997. An 8th survey has been conducted in late 1997 and preliminary results will be made available on December 10, 1997.

According to the results from the 7th survey, the following information was obtained:

  • An executive summary indicates that 19,970 individuals responded to the 7th survey (conducted online between April 10 and May 10, 1997).

  • Based on summary and trend analysis data accompanying this report, the average age of users was found to be 35.2 years, while the gender makeup of survey participants has remained around 31 percent female and 69 percent male for the past three surveys.

  • The most common occupation was listed as "computer-related jobs" (by 30 percent of respondents) while "education" represented an additional 25 percent of respondents. "Professional" and "management" occupations represented 21 percent and 10 percent of respondents, respectively.

  • Average income of respondents was $58,000 (U.S.), while the educational attainment findings of respondents continued to determine that roughly 54 percent had completed college or a more advanced degree.



How much is being spent on advertising and shopping on the Net?


Though educators recognize the uses of the Net to be primarily non-commercial, the private sector has entered cyberspace in a big way in the past few years. The following statistics indicate the significance of the commercial side of the Net:

According to Active Media, an Internet market research firm:

  • Advertising revenues on the Net in 1996 were more than $200 million and estimated to run as high as $1.7 billion for 1997.

  • Web-generated revenues at commercial websites are projected to reach $24.4 billion for 1997 and are estimated to reach more than $1 trillion by the year 2001.



Where can we get more information about the growth of the Net?

There is on shortage of statistical data and other research about the growing demand for the Internet and the Web. Not surprisingly, most of it is available on the Web itself. Here is a brief selection of choices available for further research:


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