一组很有价值的参考数据：美国十年来上网情况统计
2005年，上网成年人（18岁及以上）人数大约占美国人口的77％，成年网民为1720万。2005年比例为74％，2000年为57％，而1995年仅有9％（单纯数据上看，中国现在的上网人口比例相当于美国1995年）。相关数据统计如下：
| 上网成年人（18岁及以上） | |
| | Online at Home | Online at Work | Online at Other Location | Total (%) | Total (in Millions) | 每周平均上网时间 |
| 2006 | | | | | | |
| February/April | 70% | 35% | 22% | 77% | 172* | 9 |
| 2005 | | | | | | |
| February/April | 66 | 36 | 21 | 74 | 163 | 9 |
| 2004 | | | | | | |
| June/ August | 65 | 34 | 17 | 73 | 156 | 8 |
| 2003 | | | | | | |
| October/December | 61 | 31 | 16 | 69 | 146 | 9 |
| 2002 | | | | | | |
| November/December | 57 | 28 | 18 | 67 | 140 | 7 |
| February/March | 55 | 30 | 19 | 66 | 137 | 8 |
| 2001 | | | | | | |
| September/October | 52 | 28 | 19 | 64 | 127 | 7 |
| March/April | 53 | 27 | 20 | 64 | 126 | 7 |
| 2000 | | | | | | |
| October/November | 49 | 29 | 17 | 63 | 121 | 7 |
| April/May | 45 | 24 | 15 | 57 | 114 | 7 |
| 1999 | | | | | | |
| December | 46 | N/A | N/A | 56 | 113 | 7 |
| 1998 | | | | | | |
| January/February | 22 | 22 | N/A | 35 | 70 | N/A |
| 1997 | | | | | | |
| May/June | 16 | 18 | N/A | 30 | 59 | N/A |
| 1996 | | | | | | |
| June/September | 16 | 16 | N/A | 19 | 33 | N/A |
| 1995 | | | | | | |
| September/November | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9 | 17.5 | N/A |
| Proportion of All Adults (from work, home, school or other location) | Percent of Computer Users Who Are Online |
| | Use PC | Are Online |
| 2006 | | | |
| February/April | 81% | 77% | 95% |
| 2005 | | | |
| February/April | 79 | 74 | 94 |
| 2004 | | | |
| June/ August | 78 | 73 | 93 |
| 2003 | | | |
| October/December | 75 | 69 | 92 |
| 2002 | | | |
| November/December | 74 | 67 | 92 |
| February/March | 74 | 66 | 90 |
| 2001 | | | |
| September/October | 73 | 64 | 88 |
| March/April | 72 | 64 | 89 |
| 2000 | | | |
| October/November | 74 | 63 | 85 |
| April/May | 69 | 57 | 83 |
| 1999 | | | |
| December | 69 | 56 | 81 |
| June/July | 65 | 48 | 74 |
| January/February | 63 | 41 | 65 |
| 1998 | | | |
| January/February | 63 | 35 | 56 |
| 1997 | | | |
| May/June | 61 | 30 | 49 |
| 1996 | | | |
| June/September | 54 | 19 | 35 |
| 1995 | | | |
| September/November | 50* | 9 | 18 |
| 上网人数分布情况 | Total U.S. Adult Online Population | Total U.S. Adult Population | Percentage Point Difference |
| AGE | | | |
| 18 – 29 | 24% | 21% | +3% |
| 30 – 39 | 22 | 18 | +4 |
| 40 – 49 | 22 | 20 | +2 |
| 50+ | 30 | 37 | -7 |
| 50 – 64 | 22 | 22 | 0 |
| 65+ | 8 | 16 | -8 |
| SEX | | | |
| Men | 49 | 48 | +1 |
| Women | 51 | 52 | -1 |
| RACE/ETHNICITY | | | |
| White | 76 | 75 | +1 |
| Black | 10 | 11 | -1 |
| Hispanic | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| EDUCATION | | | |
| High school or less | 39 | 47 | -8 |
| Some college | 30 | 27 | +3 |
| College graduate (or postgraduate) | 30 | 25 | +5 |
| HOUSEHOLD INCOME | | | |
| Less than $25,000 | 14 | 19 | -5 |
| $25,000 to less than $50,000 | 23 | 24 | -1 |
| $50,000 and over | 52 | 44 | +8 |
来源：Harris Interactive
