Some Americans 'constantly' on internet, others remain offline

[WASHINGTON] More than one in four American adults say they are online "almost constantly," but a small percentage still don't use the internet at all, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The Pew Research Centre report said growth of smartphones and other mobile devices has made it easier to be always connected.

As a result, the percentage of US adults saying they are almost constantly online rose to 26 per cent from 21 per cent in a 2015 survey.

Overall, the researchers found 77 per cent of Americans go online on a daily basis, including 43 per cent who connect several times a day.

But 11 per cent said they don't use the internet at all, despite programmes encouraging Americans to use online services. That represents a modest change from 2015, when 15 per cent did not use the internet.

Older adults are more likely to be offline, Pew said: About one in three of those over 65 did not use the internet compared with just two percent in the 18-29 age group.

Younger adults, meanwhile, "are at the vanguard of the constantly connected," the Pew report said.

About 39 per cent of 18-to 29-year-olds are online almost constantly and 49 per cent go online multiple times per day.

Frequent internet users are more likely to be college educated or have incomes above US$75,000 annually, Pew said.

The findings were based on a survey of 2,002 American adults in January 2018, with a margin of error estimated at 2.4 percentage points.

AFP