Broadband Numbers Changing Face of Web

Broadband use is up, and the numbers are driving user-generated content. It’s Web 2.0 in full effect.

Forty-eight million users have posted content to the Internet and 73 percent
of them are broadband users, according to a new Pew Internet &
American Life Project report.

And that 73 percent is part of a growing pool.

Broadband adoption grew by 40 percent from March 2005 to March 2006,
from 60 million to 84 million, the report said.

The report attributes the increased broadband adoption to its further
penetration in middle-income and African-American households, and
among those with lower levels of education.

Internet penetration itself increased from 66 percent to 73 percent
last year, the report said, with half of those new users subscribing
to high-speed services.

According to the report, posting content means “having
one’s own blog, having one’s own Web page, working on a blog or a
Web page for work or a group, or sharing self-created content such as
a story, artwork, or video.”

Fifty-one percent of home broadband users under 30 have posted
content to the Internet. Only 36 percent of home high-speed users older than
30 participated in the same way.

The under 30 age group is a particularly attractive one for
marketers. Advertising on the Web increased 30 percent in the last year.

And media companies such as News Corp. have made major investments in hopes of gaining their attention.