The College Students Online report looks into the future of the Internet by analyzing what US collegians are doing online today.
Social networking is an essential part of campus life. So much so that even parents, professors and future employers are signing up. On many campuses, upward of 80% of students use social networking sites on a regular basis.
In light of their strong use of social networks, college students are a key audience for online word-of-mouth marketing efforts. In addition, they are more likely than the rest of the population to use online video and user-generated content such as blogs.
US College Student Internet Users, 2006-2011 (% of total college students)
Key questions the "College Students Online" report answers:
- How many college students go online?
- How do students spend their media time?
- Why does social networking remain popular with this group?
- What role does word-of-mouth play in student purchase decisions?
- How prevalent on campus is multitasking?
- When do students IM?
- And many others...
The 18 million US college students that head back to campus this fall will be the most wired yet. Some 17.1 million of them, or 95%, will use the Internet at least once a month, and their time spent online will measured in hours per day-not per week.