On Any Given Day, About 40 Million Internet Users Go Online Just For Fun

Report Read time:
On Any Given Day, About 40 Million Internet Users Go Online Just For Fun

The Internet is increasingly a place where Americans just hang out.

Surfing the Web has become one of the most popular activities that Internet users will do online on a typical day. Some 30 percent of Internet users go online on any given day for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time.

This makes the act of hanging out online one of the most popular activities tracked by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and indicates that the online environment is increasingly popular as a place for people to spend their free time. Compared to other online pursuits, the act of surfing for fun now stands only behind sending or receiving email (52 percent of Internet users do this on a typical day) and using a search engine (38 percent of Internet users do this on a typical day), and is in a virtual tie for third with the act of getting news online (31 percent of Internet users do this on a typical day).

In aggregate figures, this development is striking because it represents a significant increase from the number of people who went online just to browse for fun on a typical day at the end of 2004. In a survey in late November 2004, about 25 million people went online on any given day just to browse for fun. In the Pew Internet Project survey in December, 2005, that number had risen to about 40 million people.

The Project's December survey asked about Web surfing in two ways. We asked all Internet users: “Do you ever go online for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time?” Two-thirds of Internet users, 66 percent, answered “yes” to this question, a percentage that has held about steady since we began asking the question in 2000.

We also asked Internet users if they went online “yesterday”, referring to the day before the current interview. Respondents who said “yes” were then asked, “Did you go online for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time yesterday?” In this case, 30 percent answered “yes.” We interpret the positive responses to indicate that 30 percent of Internet users were surfing the web for fun on an average day in December 2005. This figure shows striking growth compared to previous surveys when we asked the same questions.

Downloads Internet Users Go Online For Fun Or To Pass Time
Downloads Internet Users Go Online For Fun Or To Pass Time
America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up

MORE FROM PEW

A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.