Sometimes I come across stats or numbers about this whole e-malarkey. If I think they might be useful I've added them here. A few things to note, however:

• As Homer [Simpson, not the Greek philosopher] said: "people can come up with statistics to prove anything ... forty percent of all people know that". The moral? Look at how independent the source is. For example, an organization that sells email marketing services might 'massage' numbers to make email look as important as possible.


• Some interesting articles, research articles or tips, hints and advice found elsewhere on this site might include stats not listed here - so go take a look at them as well.


• Some - if not most - of these come from the USA. Whilst it might be that the research could apply to other regions, it is not certain.


• I try to keep up with events on this site - but you need to consider the date of some of these stats, they might be out of date by the time you read them.

Broadband and Household Income Go Hand-In-Hand - the titular statement is hardly a rocket science-level revalation, but what is [I think] interesting is that 28% of Americans still use dial-up connections.

This report - E-Commerce Tech Spending By Retailers On The Rise - would suggest that offline retailers are [finally] recognizing that the web is here to stay.

Apparently Webcasting is a cost-effective method for lead generation and delivering complex messages in B2B markets - see Offering Archived Webcasts Improves Registration Measurably.

There are a lot of stats of this kind around and they all say much the same thing, but this research is from the UK - Out-of-touch retailers throw away high-street sales.

Maybe because I am of this generation I look at these numbers and nod in agreement - Boomers More Traditional Online - Not into Blogs, Social Networking. This one - Generation X Marks a Sweet Spot - looks at how different generations use social media. I am certainly no longer a teenager - and I find some of this - Teen Topix Teens & Internet, Spring 2008 - a bit surprising, particularly that 82% prefer to shop in a store rather than online (18%).

This article is interesting for a number of reasons, not least the numbers behind its title - Where Have All the Online Travelers Gone?. But also consider the reasons put forward [in the article] for this turn of events, namely: the websites aren't doing their job properly, and the offline travel agents have raised their game. My experience would see me agreeing with these notions. I would also say that the same applies to other industries - in both B2C and B2B.

I would file these findings under 'statements of the glaringly obvious' - but they do confirm that better educated, more well-off folks use the web the most [well, duh] - The Web at Work: A Mixed Blessing

There are far more in this paper than stats and it is well worth the time it will take you to read it, see : The Connected Kingdom [note that this is a large pdf file that will open in a new browser window].

Here's some demographics on bloggers - Blogging Becomes Mainstream. Note however, as with other articles scattered around this website, - look closely at the source of the research for positive interpretation in the findings [eg it does not define 'blogger' - ie own blog or contribute to/read others].

MySpace and its social media chums might be popular with youngsters, but it would appear that E-Mail is Effective with Boomers. Just to be contrary, however, there seems to be a connection between Social Networks and 40-Something Women.

A whole wedge of stuff in this research, and comments in two articles - Legacy Media and New Media Meld: Mass Communications Succumb to Communications by the Masses and Survey Reveals Media Channel Lines Continue to Blur

You should already have signed up for the free newsletter from these folks, but here's some more stuff anyway - And the Most Influential Media Is. What I find interesting about this data is that 'social networking sites', 'blogs' and 'virtual worlds' are identified seperately to 'online'. Now I think they are all 'online', and if you add them together it puts the Internet in second spot.

Some more Internet usage stats from the Pew Internet & American Life Project - The Online Generation Gap Narrows.

As its name suggests, the The Hitwise UK Online Performance Awards presents 2008 UK Internet surfers' online usage in the 'Top 10 Websites By Industry' and search behaviour in the 'Top 10 Most Searched-for Brands'.

I have to say I am rather surprised at some of the results in Top 10 web brands get half of UK traffic - but it is from a reputable source, so I will take it as so.