Young adults continue to lead the adoption curve in online video viewing. Nine in ten internet users ages 18-29 use video sharing sites, up from 72% one year ago. On a typical day in 2009, 36% of young adult internet users watched video on these sites, compared with just 30% in 2008. Online adults ages 30-49 also showed big gains over the past year; 67% now use video sharing sites, up from 57% in 2008.

Online video viewing is still far from being the norm among internet users ages 50 and older, however, this segment of the internet audience continues to grow each year. Among internet users ages 50-64, 41% now say they watch video on sites like YouTube, which is up from 34% in 2008. Likewise, 27% of wired seniors ages 65 and older now access video on these sites, compared with just 19% who were doing so at this time last year.

Over the past year, the share of online women who visit video sharing sites has grown substantially—from 46% in 2008 to 59% in the latest survey. That compares with 57% of male internet users who reported online video viewing in 2008 and 65% in 2009. On a typical day, online men are still more likely to have watched a video on sites like YouTube; 23% now report doing so compared with just 15% of online women. The latest survey found that there are now no significant differences across income or education groups when looking at the use of video sharing sites.