22% of Americans don't use the internet

 While almost everything changes a lot over time in the world of technology, it always amazes me to think of how much the internet has changed. In less than a decade, the internet went from a dream to a necessity. But it's been hard to tell how the internet has evolved after that. That's why Pew Research Center just made a study about internet usage evolving over time.

According to the study, 78% of Americans use the internet regularly. While many people may regard this number as shockingly low, it's actually quite impressive considering that only 12% of Americans used the internet regularly in 2000. Besides, this number includes people in very poor parts of America.

What's even more interesting is the patterns the researchers noticed. A similar study a decade ago identified gender and race as the biggest factors in internet usage. Now, however, gender and race no longer can predict how much people use the internet. Instead, age is the key factor. When asked if they use the internet regularly, 94% of Americans age 18-29 said yes, compared to only 74% of Americans 50-64 and 41% of Americans 65 or older.

What caused these huge changes? Apparently, social networking sites did the trick. Facebook has 1 billion users, which certainly ramped up internet usage. And Google+ is almost at 200 million users in only a few months. These sites made their biggest mark on internet usage of the elderly. In fact, four times as many Americans 74 or older are using Facebook or Twitter than in 2008.

Internet usage is clearly changing rapidly, which is why we can only guess what the Internet will be like in another decade. Sites could be more directed to the poor and the elderly, the two groups of people who used the internet the least. More users could also mean a greater variety of content. The only thing for sure is that it'll change a lot.