Internet Activities
According to our May-June 2004 survey, 63% of American adults use the internet. That currently represents about 128 million people. Here are some of the things they do online:	Percent of internet users who report this activity	Most recent survey date
Send e-mail	93	May-June 2004
Use a search engine to find information	84	May-June 2004
Search for a map or driving directions	84	February 2004
Do an Internet search to answer a specific question	80	Nov-Dec 2003
Research a product or service before buying it	78	February 2004
Look for info on a hobby or interest	76	March-May 2003
Check the weather	75	June 2003
Get travel info	73	May-June 2004
Get news	72	May-June 2004
Surf the Web for fun	67	March-May 2003
Look for health/medical info	66	December 2002
Look for info from a government website	66	August 2003
Buy a product	65	February 2004
Research for school or training	60	May-June 2004
Buy or make a reservation for travel	55	May-June 2004
Go to a website that provides info or support for a specific medical condition or personal situation	54	December 2002
Look up phone number or address	54	February 2004
Watch a video clip or listen to an audio clip	52	March-May 2003
Do any type of research for your job	51	February 2004
Look for political news/info	49	May-June 2004
Get financial info	44	March-May 2003
Check sports scores or info	43	February 2004
Look for info about a job	42	May-June 2004
Download other files such as games, videos, or pictures	42	June 2003
Send an instant message	42	May-June 2004
Play a game	39	March-May 2003
Listen to music online at a website	34	May-June 2004
Look for info about a place to live	34	May-June 2004
Bank online	34	June 2003
Look for religious/spiritual info	29	March-May 2003
Search for info about someone you know or might meet	28	September 2002
Chat in a chat room or in an online discussion	25	June-July 2002
Research your family’s history or genealogy	24	March-May 2003
Look for weight loss or general fitness info	24	January 2002
Participate in an online auction	23	February 2004
Look for info about a mental health issue	23	June-July 2002
Share files from own computer w/ others	23	February 2004
Use Internet to get photos developed/display photos	21	August-October 2001
Download music files to your computer	20	May-June 2004
Create content for the Internet	19	October 2002
Look for info on something sensitive or embarrassing	18	June-July 2002
Read someone else’s web log or “blog”	17	February 2004
Log onto the Internet using a wireless device	17	February 2004
Take part in an online group	16	October 2002
Download video files to your computer	15	February 2004
Visit an adult website	15	May-June 2004
Buy or sell stocks, bonds, or mutual funds	12	February 2004
Buy groceries online	12	March-May 2003
Take a class online for college credit	10	June 2003
Go to a dating website or other sites where you can meet other people online	9	May-June 2004
Take any other class online	8	June 2003
Look for info about domestic violence	8	December 2002
Make a phone call online	7	June 2003
Make a donation to a charity online	7	December 2002
Create a web log or “blog”	5	February 2004
Check e-mail on a hand-held computer	5	August-October 2001
Play lottery or gamble online	4	March-May 2003
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Tracking surveys (March 2000 – June 2004). Please note that the wording for some items has been abbreviated. For full question wording, please refer to the questionnaire. Last updated: June 30, 2004

NOTE: If you followed an outside link to get to this page, please refer to the Latest Trends section of our website to ensure that you are viewing the most recent version of this table: http://www.pewinternet.org/trends.asp