More and more young children are surfing the internet these days. According to Nielsen Online, the number of children aged 2-11 using the internet has increased by 18% since 2004. In May 2009, 16 million U.S. kids went online. They represent 9.5% of the active American Internet users. Furthermore, the time these children spend online has increased from nearly 7 hours in May 2004, to more than 11 hours in May 2009. This is an increase of 63% in the last 5 years, which surpasses the growth in time spent online by the overall population by 27%.
It is difficult to find online data on the number of young children going online in Europe. However, a study of the European Commission shows that 73% of the people aged 16-24, use the internet on a daily base. These youngsters are the largest group of internet users in Europe. One might therefore expect that a large number of young European children surf the internet as well.
The numbers mentioned above indicate a large and growing number of toddlers that are surfing the worldwide web. They make up an interesting market segment with special “online needs”. For example, a lot of young children might have difficulties reading, typing, searching, etc. It is up to marketers to study these needs and help designers to create online environments that meet the wishes of these toddlers.
Sources:
http://blog.combell.com/2009/09/27/children-are-more-and-more-online/
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