75% of English-speaking Asian-American adults are online

WASHINGTON, DC Asian-Americans who speak English are more experienced and active Internet users than whites, African-Americans, or Hispanics.

Surveys of 13,946 Internet users by the Pew Internet & American Life Project show that about three-quarters of Asian-American adults have gone online, a significantly greater rate than the 58% of white adults, the 50% of Hispanic adults, and the 43% of African-American adults who have done so.

Asian-Americans are also heavy daily users of the Web–fully 70% of Asian-American Internet users are online on a typical day. This is much higher than any other English speaking ethnic or racial group.

About half of Asian-American users have been online for more than three years; 80% have been using the Web for two or more years, easily making Asian-Americans the Web?s most experienced ethnic group.

These are among the findings in a new report from the Pew Internet Project called “Asian-Americans and the Web: The Young and the Connected.” The results are based on the Pew Internet Project”s year 2000 Tracking Poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. From a total sample of 26,094 American adults, 486 Asian-Americans were interviewed via a telephone survey.

“Clearly, Asian-Americans have enthusiastically brought the Internet deeply into their daily lives–not only as a source of information for school and work and for news, but also as a way to enhance their social lives and as a source of fun,” says Tom Spooner, a Research Specialist at the project and the principal author of the report.

Here are some other findings of the report:

  • Asian-American Internet users are more likely to have a college degree and a higher income than those in other racial and ethnic groups.
  • The Asian-American Internet population is the youngest on the Web–63% of them are between the ages of 18 and 34.
  • Asian-American Internet users are voracious daily information gatherers–34% get the day”s news online; 20% seek financial information on a typical day; and 19% look for political news and information on a daily basis. These rates are all higher than their peers.

    The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit initiative fully funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts to explores the impact of the Internet on children, families, communities, health care, schools, the work place, and civic/political life.