Majority of Americans Use Multiple Internet-connected Devices, Data Shows

In just a two-year span, between 2011 and 2013, Americans significantly shifted their Internet usage habits, moving toward more mobile Internet use and increasing the range of devices they use to connect, according to data collected in July 2013 as part of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

A majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- used two or more Internet-connected devices, the data shows. That’s up from 41 percent in July 2011. Americans are using a wide variety of devices to access the Internet, including tablets, laptops, mobile phones, and TV-connected boxes such as gaming consoles or streaming video players. The data shows a big shift in Americans’ use of mobile devices, with double-digit percentage-point increases in Internet-connected tablet and mobile phone usage. Use of mobile phones to connect jumped from 27 percent in 2011 to 45 percent in 2013, while tablet use rose from 6 percent to 22 percent. NTIA analysis confirms what many of us already know: Americans increasingly prefer to use a wide range of devices to access the Internet, particularly mobile devices.