Active Internet Users…
If you have been ‘online’ at least once in the past month, then you are an ‘active Internet user’ according to the Nielson/NetUser definition. I’m assuming that ‘online’ in this context means Web browsing, e-mail does not carry quite the same implication as it is essentially a person to person messaging medium.
There is a very useful table that lists populations and estimates of Internet users for a range of countries. If you are an active Internet User in the UK, then you are one of 23.58 million of us. Several calculations suggest themselves using this table with students in a blended learning room (i.e. projector and a set of computers).
- Copy paste into spreadsheet and calculate the Internet Users as a percentage of the population
- Sort the countries with Nielson/NetUser rated ‘active Internet User’ figures and compare those as a percentage of the population for those countries
- Compare the Nielson/NetUser figures with the CIA Factbook based Internet User figure for the same country – what can the difference tell you?
- Find other data that tells you something about the disposable income in the countries – can you find any pattern? Is there a threshold for disposable income below which the Internet access drops rapidly? Or is the relationship more one of smooth dependence?