Back in 2010, NeONBRAND reported that the world would reach 2 billion internet users by the end of the year, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Now 4 years later, the ITU expects that we’ll break 3 billion by December 2014. That means 40% of the world is connecting with one another on the web.
With now nearly half of the world online, we took a look at who’s using the internet most, what sites are attracting the greatest surge of users, and how the world will be affected by online in the future.
Who’s Online?
Asia tops the world in internet usage at 41.5 % according to the World Internet Statistics.
In second place comes Europe with 20.1%, followed by Latin America with 10.8% and North America with 10.7%.
Africa, the Middle East and Australia are using less than 13% of the globe’s internet combined.
The recent increase of online usage can be credited almost entirely to the availability of the smart phone.
Regions dominating in cyber technologies and digital developments will continue to rank highest on the usage scale.
Sites With the Most Traffic
Search engines, databases and social media sites pull in the most internet traffic, according to recent polls.
Google is still the number one website in the world with Youtube following closely behind.
Other high ranking sites include Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Amazon, LinkedIn, Ebay and Wikipedia.
Over the last several years WordPress has made the ranks of the top 15 most used websites, as well as Pinterest and Microsoft.
In September, the leading Chinese search engine Baidu reported over 531 million users.
The Future of the Internet
The ITU’s 2010 report concluded that broadband and public internet services would increase internet usage worldwide. Now that we’re approaching 3 billion users, it’s safe to say that their predictions were true. A ten percent increase over 4 years shows tremendous development in the digital world.
Over the next ten years, experts envision a world of technologies synced together by the internet, including advancements in artificial intelligence.
Experts also fear, however, that the more powerful the internet becomes the more restrictions users will face. Government agencies have already gotten a grasp on our telecommunications, and it won’t be long before they take control over media sites that secure our personal information.
What are your predictions of the internet of the future?