When employers hear that the average adult spends 13 hours of his or her week online, they’re bound to wonder, “How much of that Web surfing takes place at work?”
A recent Harris Interactive poll found that the average Web surfer spends 13 hours per week (almost two full workdays!) on the Web.
Those findings are nearly double what they were just one decade ago — with Web surfers in 2000 spending an average of seven hours per week online.
Here is a breakdown of the age groups that spend the most time online:
- Aged 30-39 (18 hours)
- Aged 40-49 (17 hours), and
- Aged 25-29 (17 hours).
While these findings seem significant at first glance, the poll does point out that the increase probably reflects a growing use of the Web for news and entertainment sources — as opposed to television and print (newspapers, magazines, etc.), as well as a huge surge in the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The poll was based on responses from 2,029 adults whom Harris called by phone between July 7-12 and October 13-18, 2009.
If you’re worried about how your employees are spending their time online — as well as what they’re searching for — here is a proven safeguard.