More Wireless in U.S., African Americans, Latinos and Young, Says Pew

pewwirelessinternetuse.jpgThe latest Pew Internet research shows that the U.S. is going more wireless than ever. There's more wireless use especially by African Americans, Latinos and the young (18-29 year-olds)

As of May 2010, 59% of all adult Americans go online wirelessly. Their wireless group includes,going online with a laptop using a wi-fi
connection or mobile broadband card. Roughly half of all adults (47%) go
online in this way, up from the 39% who did so at a similar point in
2009. The wireless group also includes se the internet, email or instant messaging on a
cell phone. Two in five adults (40%) do at least one of these using a
mobile device, an increase from the 32% of adults who did so in 2009.

Taken together, 59% of American adults now go online
wirelessly using either a laptop or cell phone
, an increase
over the 51% of Americans who did so at a similar point in 2009.

Cell phone ownership has remained stable over the last year, but
users are taking advantage of a much wider range of their phones'
capabilities compared with a similar point in 2009. Of the eight mobile
data applications we asked about in both 2009 and 2010, all showed
statistically significant year-to-year growth.

Among all cell phone owners:

  • 54% have used their mobile device to send
    someone a photo or video
  • 23% have accessed a social networking site using their phone
  • 20% have used their phone to watch a video
  • 15% have posted a photo or video online
  • 11% have purchased a product using their phone
  • 11% have made a charitable donation by text message
  • 10% have used their mobile phone to access a
    status update service such as Twitter

Mminority
Americans lead the way when it comes to mobile access--especially mobile
access using handheld devices. Nearly two-thirds of African-Americans
(64%) and Latinos (63%) are wireless internet users, and minority
Americans are significantly more likely to own a cell phone than their
white counterparts (87% of blacks and Hispanics own a cell phone,
compared with 80% of whites).  Additionally, black and Latino cell phone
owners take advantage of a much wider array of their phones' data
functions compared to white cell phone owners. It is important to note
that our data for Hispanics represents English-speaking Hispanics only,
as our survey did not provide a Spanish-language option.

Nine in ten 18-29 year olds own a cell phone, and these young
cell owners are significantly more likely than those in other age groups
to engage in all of the mobile data applications we asked about in our
survey. Among 18-29 year old cell phone owners:

  • 95% send or receive text messages
  • 93% use their phone to take pictures
  • 81% send photos or videos to others
  • 65% access the internet on their mobile device
  • 64% play music on their phones
  • 60% use their phones to play games or record a video
  • 52% have used their phone to send or receive email
  • 48% have accessed a social networking site on their
    phone
  • 46% use instant messaging on their mobile device
  • 40% have watched a video on their phone
  • 33% have posted a photo or video online from their
    phone
  • 21% have used a status update service such as Twitter
    from their phone
  • 20% have purchased something using their mobile phone
  • 19% have made a charitable donation by
    text message

Although young adults have the highest levels of mobile data
application use among all age groups, utilization of these services is
growing fast among 30-49 year olds. Compared with a similar point in
2009, cell owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use a
range of mobile data applications on a handheld device.

The mobile data applications with the largest year-to-year
increases among the 30-49 year old cohort include taking pictures (83%
of 30-49 year old cell owners now do this, a 12-point increase from
2009); recording videos (39% do this, an 18-point increase from 2009);
playing music (36% do this, a 15-point increase); using instant
messaging (35% now do this, a 14-point increase); and accessing the
internet (43% now do this, a 12-point increase compared with 2009).