The audience for YouTube and other video sharing websites has risen sharply in the past year, with almost half of online adults logging onto such sites, reports a study from Pew Internet & American Life Project.
In a national phone survey of 2,054 adults, 48 percent said they have visited a video sharing site, up from last year's 33 percent. Fifteen percent reported using a site like YouTube "yesterday", or the day before the respondent was contacted for the survey, compared to eight percent of users last year; this means the number of video site users has nearly doubled from the end of 2006 to the end of 2007.
Of the demographic groups, daily traffic among high school graduates, women and respondents aged 30 to 49 has increased the most:
-- The number of high school graduates using video sites increased 160 percent, jumping from five to 13 percent.
-- Women's use increased 120 percent, from five to 11 percent.
-- Use for those aged 30 to 49 increased 100 percent, from seven to 14 percent.
The study attributes this surge to popularity of video sharing sites among men and younger adults and broadband connection speeds. Now, nearly a third of young adults and a fifth of online men visit these sites, while 54 percent of adults now have high-speed internet connections at home, up from 45 percent last year.
It has also taken into account that there are now more YouTube-like sites than there were a year ago, so the rising popularity of amateur videos is partly responsible for the growth.
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