After years of modest activity, online phone calling has taken off as a quarter (24%) of American adult internet users have placed phone calls online (19% of all American adults). On any given day 5% of internet users are going online to place phone calls. Both figures are marked increases from previous readings in surveys by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Using different question wording, the Project found in February 2007 that 8% of internet users (6% of all adults) had placed calls online and 2% of internet users were making calls on any given day. At various points during the 2000s we asked similar questions and found that at most about a tenth of internet users had ever used the internet to place calls and the daily figure never rose above 1% of internet users. Our survey also found that 7% of cell phone owners have participated in video calls or online chats with their handheld device. Read or download the full report: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/13--Internet-phone-calls--Skype.aspx | |
