What is the most popular activity for Internet users over Internet Web?

1.Getting knowledge

2.Check E-Mails

3.Download songs & movies

4.Using social networks

5.Job seeking

6.Internet Banking

7.Chatting

8.Internet callings

9.E-Trading

10.Mobile downloads.

While the PC is the dominant means of gaining access to the internet, IDC expects the number of mobile devices accessing the internet will surpass the number of online PCs by 2012:

• Users will access the internet through more than 1.5 billion devices worldwide in 2008, including PCs, mobile phones, and online videogame consoles.
• By 2012, the number of devices accessing the internet will double to more than 3 billion, half of which will be mobile devices.

The World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee created user-friendly “Web pages” that could travel over the Internet, a network built to shuttle research between universities. The world logged on: 747 million adults in January.

E-mail
Tech’s answer to the Pony Express . Programs such as 1988’s Eudora made it easy to use. In-boxes have been filling up ever since. Nearly 97 billion e-mails are sent each day.

3Graphical user interface (GUI)
Most computer displays were blinking lines of text until Apple featured clickable icons and other graphic tools in its 1984 Mac. Microsoft’s Windows took GUI — pronounced “gooey” — to the masses.

AOL
AOL turned people on to Web portals, chat rooms and instant messaging. Early subscribers paid by the hour. AOL once boasted 35 million subscribers. It bought Time Warner for $106 billion in 2001.

Mosaic/Netscape
Created by Marc Andreessen and others, Mosaic was the first widely-used multimedia Web browser. Spin-off Netscape Navigator ruled the ‘90s until Microsoft’s Internet Explorer took off around ‘98.

Yahoo!
Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo created this popular Web portal in 1994. It remains a favorite for email, photo sharing (it owns Flickr) and other services.

eBay
Thanks to eBay, we can all now buy and sell almost anything (skip the body parts). eBay has 230 million customers worldwide who engage in 100 million auctions at any given time.

Amazon.com
Jeff Bezos’ baby began as an always-in-stock book seller. It survived the tech bubble and now is the definitive big box online store. It was the second most-visited online retailer in December, after eBay.

Instant Messaging
LOL! Web surfers began to “laugh out loud” and BRB (“be right back”) in the mid-‘90s, with the launch of ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger. Millions use it to swap messages and photos, even telephone pals.

Broadband
The answer to the drip-drip-drip of dial-up, high-speed Internet service fuels online entertainment. About 78% of home Internet users in the U.S. have broadband, up from less than 1% in 1998.
 

Here’s what others say about Internet 101:

“Internet 101: A well-organized overview uses simple language to explain all basic concepts of the Internet. The site can serve as a primary source for students, providing a solid and easy-to-understand foundation for the beginner…”
- Yahoo!

“Internet 101 is one of the best sites for parents, grandparents and, yes, even kids to learn about the Internet and how it works.”
- WABC-TV New York

“Internet 101 contains all you need to know about the Web, viruses, newsgroups, how to chat, how to search.”
- AT&T Labs

1)      Email
2)      Web surfing and searching
3)      Chatting
4)      Blogging
5)      Seeking Jobs, marital or business alliances (Social networking)
6)      E commerce/ Ebusiness/ E trading/ E learning (commercial)

Dear All

This is the big list of 72 most popular internet activities with their percentage share of all the activities ::

1. Sending or reading emails 92 %
2. Using search engines to find information 89 %
3. Search for a map or driving directions 86 %
4. Look for information on a hobby or interest 83 %
5. Research a product or service before buying 81 %
6. Check the weather 80 %
7. Look for health or medical info 75 %
8. Get travel information 73 %
9. Get news and current affairs 73 %
10. Buy a product online 71 %
11. Visit a local, state, or central government website 66 %
12. Buy or make a reservation for travel 64 %
13. Surf the Web for fun and time pass 62 %
14. Go to a website that provides info or support for a specific medical condition or personal situation 58 %
15. Research for school or training 57 %
16. Watch a video clip or listen to an audio clip on internet 56 %
17. Look for “how-to,” “do-it-yourself,” or repair information 55 %
18. Look online for news or information about politics or the upcoming campaigns 55 %
19. Look up phone number or address 54 %
20. Do online Banking 53 %
21. Watch a video on a video-sharing site like YouTube, MetaCafe or GoogleVideos 52 %
22. Take a virtual tour of a location online 51 %
23. Do any type of research for your job 51 %
24. Look online for information about a job 47 %
25. Get sports scores and info online 45 %
26. Get info online about a college, university, or other school 45 %
27. Download other files such as games, videos, or pictures 42 %
28. Get financial info online, such as stock quotes or mortage interest rates 41 %
29. Send instant messages 40 %
30. Look for info about a place to live 39 %
31. Download computer programs or softwares from the Internet 39 %
32. Pay bills online 38 %
33. Download mp3 songs 37 %
34. Upload photos to a website so you can share them with others online 37 %
35. Look for information on Wikipedia 36 %
36. Send or receive text messages using a cell phone 35 %
37. Look for religious or spiritual information 35 %
38. Play online games 35 %
39. Listen to music online at a website 34 %
40. Read someone else’s online journal, web log, or blog 33 %
41. Rate a product, service, or person using an online rating system 32 %
42. Use online classified ads or sites like Craig’s list 32 %
43. Log on to the internet using a wireless device 30 %
44. Listen to a live or recorded radio broadcast online, such as a newscast, sporting event, or radio show 29 %
45. Categorize or tag online content like a photo, news story, or blog post 28 %
46. Search for information about someone you know or might meet 28 %
47. Pay to access or download digital content online 28 %
48. Share files from own computer with others 27 %
49. Download video files to your computer 27 %
50. Participate in an online auction on ebay and other websites 26 %
51. Research your family’s history or genealogy online 25 %
52. Download screensavers from the Internet 23 %
53. Chat in a chat room or in an online discussion 22 %
54. Download computer games from the Internet 21 %
55. Create content for the Internet 19 %
56. Download a podcast so you can listen to it or view it at a later time 19 %
57. Make a donation to a charity online 18 %
58. View live images online of a remote location or person, using a webcam 17 %
59. Use an online social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, or Friendster 16 %
60. Sell anything online 15 %
61. Visit an adult website 13 %
62. Take a class online just for personal enjoyment or enrichment 13 %
63. Participate in an online discussion 12 %
64. Send or receive an invitation to a meeting or party using an online invitation service 12 %
65. Take a class online for credit toward a degree of some kind 12 %
66. Create or work on your own online journal or blog 12 %
67. Take material you find online-like songs, text, or images-and remix it into your own artistic creation 11 %
68. Buy or sell stocks, bonds, or mutual funds 11 %
69. Make a phone call online 8 %
70. Go to a dating website or other site where you can meet people online 6 %
71. Create an avatar or online representation of yourself 6 %
72. Download or share adult content online 4 %

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project tracking surveys.

The top five most popular online activities globally according to Nielsen’s latest report ::

1. Search – 85.9%
2. General Interest Portals & Communities – 85.2%
3. Software
4. Manufacturers 73.4%
5. Member Communities – 66.8%
6. E-mail 65.1% 

For more information follow the link:-

http://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/Press_Release/press_detail.htmlRegards

Regards

Kiran

Above is collected information

The Internet Usage of an individual depends on various factors such as Availability of computer with net connection-connection speed and type of connection at work or at home with or with out restriction for use personal or for work related, Age, Working-Net savy or not, Non working-Retired-net savy or not, Sex, Type of work if working, Habits if retired, Freelancers and so on. In most cases where people are near a computer. The usage by an individual picks up once he finds out what all he can do or get from Internet use. Internet usage also depends upon what kind of a person, the user is - for example a person irrespective of age and sex  who has developed bad habits may be watching audult sites all the time or when ever he gets an opportunity. In general most people use internet for checking mail or better I should say deleting junk and unwanted unsolicited mails and activities associated with how to stop such mails. Second most popular usage is to search for information and activities related to gathering information depnding upon individuals: these mat incude not just searching the net for information but also sending mails to the network of funds and reading mails received, start discussions, subscribe to related free or paid news letters and journals etc. The ranking according to me is as follows:

1. Email 

2. Web surfing and searching

3.Ecommerce/ Ebusiness/ Etrading/ Elearning     

3. Chatting

4. Business/Brand promotion through advertisement or web site development

5. Blogging

6. Gaming and entertainment

7.   Seeking Jobs, marital or business alliances

8.Conducting and attending Webinars

9. Eservice, Econsultancy and Egovernance

10.Freelancing

11.Epublishing (books or research journals)

12.   Participating in social or professional networking sites

13.Business Process Outsourcing

14.Offshore project development and implementation

15.  ECRM

16. Virtual office or remote project implementation or work collaboration   

17. Watiching Sports (Cricket, Football, tennis, Olympic, Asian Games etc), movies and events 

18. Any other (specify)

In my case, I am not that much expert in this area. However after knowing how to operate the computer, my first activity has been e-mailing. Then searching answers for certain topics in the web sites. The recent one is participating in the Too Step sites which attracted  me very much. This is because I am a freelancer to express my opinions in this forum. Thanks & Regards to too-Step.

Thanks for the referral. 

Initially email was considered the most popular activity for Internet users when Internet was introduced approximately 25 years ago. From my observation, web surfing and researching has become the most popular. Even I spent most of my time when on internet doing research work. However, I would support  George Vargese order of popular activity  especially the first three. I would classified chatting on the same level with email or above since the young population don't email but chat with web cams at their disposal. Even some chatting are done as an official medium. Emails are limited now for official document and forward mails. Social websites are even replacing emails.

It is difficult to assess the changes in the ranks in the near future. However one thing for sure is that there could be improvements in all of the above mentioned activities. We have already moved from dial up to high speed internet/broadband.

As per my knowledge goes, it is No.1 option i.e. e-mailing.

As per my knowledge goes, it is No.1 option i.e. e-mailing.