A national survey conducted in July 2013 and reported by the Pew Research Center shows the percentage of American adult Internet users who upload or post videos online has more than doubled in the past four years, from 14 per cent in 2009 to 31 per cent today. This figure includes online adults who do at least one of the following:

– Upload a video to the Internet so others can watch or download it; 27 per cent of adult Internet users have done this.
– Post videos to any website online that they, themselves, have taken or created—18 per cent of adult Internet users have done this.

Younger adult Internet users are twice as likely to post and share videos online than their older counterparts. Fully 41 per cent of 18-29 year-old Internet users and 36 per cent of 30-49 year-old Internet users post or share videos online, compared with 18 per cent of Internet users age 50 and older. Online adults living in higher income households (annual income of $75,000 or more) are also particularly likely to post or share videos online when compared with those in households with annual incomes below $50,000.

The per cent of adults who watch or download videos also continues to increase, according to Pew.

The per cent of online adults who watch or download videos has also grown over the past four years, from 69 per cent of adult Internet users in 2009 to 78 per cent today.  That figure includes online adults who say they do at least one of the following:

– Watch videos on a video-sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo —72 per cent of adult Internet users have done this.
– Watch videos online, including on social network sites or using mobile apps—56 per cent of adult Internet users have done this.
– Download video files onto a computer or cell phone so they can play them at any time they want—36 per cent of adult Internet users have done this.

Video-sharing sites such as YouTube have been the main driving force in the increasing per centage of online adults who post, watch and download videos. Since 2006, the per cent of online adults who use video-sharing sites has grown from 33 per cent to the current figure of 72 per cent.

Among all online adults, rates of online video watching are highest among those ages 18-49, as well as those with higher educational attainment and household incomes.

Comedy and educational videos continue to be at or near the top of the list of most widely viewed types of online video, now joined by how-to and music videos

As Pew reported in 2009, comedy and educational videos are among the most widely viewed video genres, with 57 per cent of all online adults saying they watch comedy/humorous videos and 50 per cent of online adults saying they watch educational videos. These two genres are now joined at the top of the list by how-to videos, watched by 56 per cent of online adults, and music videos.  Music videos showed the largest growth in viewership between 2009 and 2013, from 32 per cent to 50 per cent of all online adults now watching this type of video online.

Among adults who watch videos online, different genres appeal to different demographic groups.  For instance, online video watchers age 18-29 are more likely than those age 50 and older to watch music videos (81 per cent v. 39 per cent), comedy videos (82 per cent v. 61 per cent), and animation videos (47 per cent v. 20 per cent).  More male than female online video watchers view sports videos (49 per cent v. 23 per cent), political videos (40 per cent v. 30 per cent), and adult videos (25 per cent v. 8 per cent) online.

When posting their own videos online, users most commonly share mundane things such as friends, family, and events they attend

As noted above, 18 per cent of online adults share videos online that they have recorded or created themselves.  For this group, the most common subject matter is friends and family doing everyday things (58 per cent post videos with this kind of content), followed closely by videos of themselves or others doing funny things (56 per cent) and videos of events attended (54 per cent).

In contrast, those who post their own videos online are less likely to post videos that have been intentionally staged, scripted or choreographed (just 23 per cent do this) or educational or tutorial videos they have shot themselves (30 per cent do this).

35 per cent of adults who post videos online—11 per cent of all adult Internet users—have posted a video with the hope it will be seen by many people

Among all video posters and uploaders, both those who post their own videos and those who post videos created by others, 35 per cent say they have posted or shared a video online with the hope of it being seen by many people or ‘going viral’. That equates to 11 per cent of all adult Internet users.  Just 5 per cent of adults who post videos online say they have regretted a video they have posted in the past.

The increasing popularity of social networking sites and the proliferation of cell phones have helped spur the growing online video culture.

The growing popularity of posting and watching online videos is a natural by-product of the increasing per cent of adults who use social network sites such as Facebook, as well as the proliferation of cell phones which make it relatively easy to watch, record, and post videos online.  Fully 72 per cent of online adults now use social networking sites, which provide a venue for video sharing and watching. The current survey shows that:

– 71 per cent of adults who post videos online do so on social networking sites.
– 58 per cent of adults who watch online videos do so on social networking sites.

Similarly, as the per cent of American adults who own a cell phone has reached 91 per cent, it is not uncommon for adults to use these devices to participate in the online video culture.  Among adult cell phone owners:

– 41 per cent use their phones to watch video.
– 40 per cent use their phones to record video.
– 20 per cent use their phones to post videos online.

More recently, apps have emerged which bring the convenience of cell phones together with the popularity of online video. In the current survey:

– 23 per cent of adults who post videos online do so using a mobile app such as Vine.
– 17 per cent of adults who watch videos online do so using a mobile app.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research, Social Media