Asian-Americans are one of the most wired groups in America. Fully 75% of English-speaking Asian-American adults have used the Internet. Numbering well over 5 million, these Asian-American Internet users are also the Net’s most active users. By comparison, 58% of white adults, 43% of African-Americans, and 50% of English-speaking Hispanics are online.
Asian-Americans who responded in phone surveys conducted in English are
among the nation’s heaviest users of the Internet on a day-to-day basis – fully 70% of
them are online on a typical day. This is significantly higher than any other English speaking ethnic group; 58% of white Internet users go online on a typical day, along
with 48% of Hispanics and 39% of African-Americans.
As a group, Asian-Americans have been online a lot longer than their peers.
Almost half are Internet veterans with more than three years of online experience,
and 80% have been online for more than two years.
When Asian-Americans go online, they stay connected for longer than anyone
else. Almost 40% of Asian-American users who are online during a typical day spend
two or more hours on the Web. About 15% spend four or more hours online.
What Asian-Americans like to do on the Web:
Asian-Americans engage in their favorite online activities at a much higher
rate on a typical day than other groups, indicating that Asian-American users have
made the Internet an integral part of their daily lives. This pattern cuts across all the
major Internet activities, whether it is for fun, to look for information, to transact
commerce, or to search for information related to major life activities.
There are also some general differences between what Asian-American users
like to do and what other users prefer. As an example, Asian-American users are
proportionally much more likely than others to get information about financial
matters, travel, and political information. Asian-American users are also more likely
to use the Internet as a resource at school or at work.
- 34% of Asian-American users get the day’s news online during a typical day, compared with 22% of whites, 20% of Hispanics and 15% of African-American Internet users.
- 78% of Asian-American users have sought travel information online.
- 53% of Asian-American users have sought financial information online.
- 49% of Asian-American users have sought political information online.
- 68% of Asian-American users have used the Internet for school research, compared with 51% of white users; 59% of Asian-American users have gone online for work related reasons, compared with 50% of white users.
