If you’re unfamiliar with the term, an internet minute refers to what happens online in the span of 60 seconds. You can apply this to anything like tweets shared on Twitter, videos posted on YouTube, etc.

Below, I’ll list out some of the more interesting data I found about people’s activities during an internet minute. This data is accurate as of 2022, so it’s fairly new.

Take a look at the chart below (some part of it is based on research from Statista and some from Data Never Sleeps – 2021 info).

What we get from this, aside from the fact that Amazon is literally filthy rich and people send a lot of emails, is that the internet is always awake.

Something always happens somewhere, all the time, and there’s no stopping it. Save for a nuclear attack that wipes off all the servers everywhere, and there’s no more electricity; nothing can stop the internet ever again.

The internet has become ever so present in our lives, and it’s safe to say that the lack of it would literally cripple entire industries. The world would cease to function in many ways without this interconnected network.

Suffice it to say that millions of things are taking place every minute on the internet, and it’s only getting more intense as time passes by.

According to Data Report, approximately 64.6% of the world’s population had access to the internet in January 2013. That’s about 5.158 billion people. Moreover, in the last year, almost 100 million people gained access to the internet.

While it’s unrealistic to expect all of the world’s population to have access to the internet, those figures are slowly rising.

If we’re still at it, I’ll also include a chart with the number of internet users from 1990 to 2023, courtesy of Data Reportal.

Number of Internet Users Worldwide Per Year 1990-2023

The amount of actions performed online per internet minute is directly proportional to the number of internet users at any given period. The more users, the more recorded actions per internet minute.

Below, I’ve prepared a chart showing the number of internet users worldwide over the years.

By cross-comparing this chart with the appearance of every revolutionary element of the internet, you’ll quickly see massive increases in internet users.

For instance, 1993 marks the first big leap in internet users, from 9.8 million to 20.1, a 105% increase.

This happened largely because Mosaic, the world’s first web browser, was launched in 1993. That same year, the European Organization for Nuclear Research made its website public and free for everyone.

Once the first websites appeared, the train had left the station, and there was no turning back. The internet would keep evolving, and everyone would get in on the fun.

Take a look at the following extrapolations from the chart above as well:

• The internet reached 100+ million users in 7 years from the moment HTML was created in 1990 (a 4,361% increase)
• It only took a little over a year (from 1997 to the beginning of 1999) for the internet to have over 200 million users
• The internet reached 1 billion users in 2005, in only 15 years since Tim-Berners Lee created HTML (a 38,361% increase)
• The 2-billion mark was reached 6 years later, in 2011, a 113% increase, and the 3-billion mark was reached 4 years later
• In total, from 1990 to 2023, a 33-year period, the number of internet users grew from 2.6 million to 5.158 billion, a 192,284% increase.

In 2023, we have over 5,158 billion people connected to the internet, and as I said previously, the number is only going up the more time passes.

We also have to take into consideration that the world’s population is in constant growth, with an estimated 8 billion people in November 2020.

Naturally, more and more people will get their hands on advice that has access to the internet.

What’s the End-Game of the Internet?

The internet exists to make our lives easier and connect people from all around the world instantly. The benefits far outweigh the flaws (arguing with people online and wasting time?).

The future looks ever-brighter for the Age of the Internet, with brand-new technologies to make our lives more comfortable.

That’s about all I can say about the optic. Stay tuned for other interesting analyses of online platforms and phenomena!

Sources

1. Statista – Media Usage in an Internet Minute as of April 2022
2. Visual Capitalist – From Amazon to Zoom: What Happens in an Internet Minute in 2021?
3. Data Reportal – Digital Around the World
4. Live Science – Internet History Timeline: ARPANET to the World Wide Web