New data show increases in both the percent of adults who post and who watch videos online

A national survey conducted in July 2013 shows the percent of American adult Internet users who upload or post video online has doubled in the past four years, from 14% in 2009 to 31% 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% of adult Internet users have done this.
• Post videos to any website online that they, themselves, have taken or created -- 18% of adult Internet users have done this.

Younger adult Internet users are twice as likely as their older counterparts to post and share videos online. While 41% of 18-29 year-old Internet users and 36% of 30-49 year-old Internet users post or share videos online, the same is true of just 18% of Internet users age 50 and older. “Since 2006, we’ve seen consistent increases year-to-year in the percentage of adults who watch videos online, but this survey marks the largest increase we’ve seen in the percent of adults who are posting videos online,” notes Kristen Purcell, Associate Director of Research at the Pew Internet Project and the author of the report. “As the online video culture grows—fueled by video-sharing sites, mobile phones, and online social networking—posting videos online is becoming a mainstream online behavior.” When posting their own videos online, adults most commonly share mundane things such as friends, family, and events they attend. 35% of adults who post or share video online—or 11% of all adult Internet users—have posted a video with the hope it will be seen by many people. The percent of online adults who watch or download videos also continues to increase. Comedy and educational videos continue to top of the list of most widely viewed types of online video, now joined by how-to and music videos. The increasing popularity of social networking sites and the proliferation of cell phones have helped spur the growing online video culture.