Survey says: YouTube's gone mainstream

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 07:45

Your IT - Home IT

Still think YouTube is just for kids? The diversity of the pioneering online video service's Australian audience may surprise you.

A survey of 3000 Australians carried out by Research International on behalf of Google found a wide range of demographics.

People aged at least 14 who had used YouTube in the previous three months were interviewed.

The age breakdown turned out thus:

14-17 -  7%
18-29 - 32%
30-39 - 20%
40-49 - 18%
50-59 - 13%
60+   - 10%

And 57% of 'Yousers' are working, with 15% studying and 19% staying at home (a category that presumably includes full-time parents and other carers, the unemployed, and retirees).

20% of those surveyed claimed they had uploaded video content, which seems on the high side unless the question was along the lines of "have you ever uploaded a video to YouTube?"

Some of the other findings are less surprising.

79% of respondents reported staying on YouTube for longer than they intended.

86% visit YouTube for entertainment. Presumably the rest are there for news clips and how-to videos.

But what sort of content are they actually watching? Find out on page 2.