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The number of online adults who share or post videos has doubled, from 14% to 31%, since 2009, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Internet Project, driven by the rise of video sharing sites like YouTube.
Streaming and downloading videos is also on the rise.
Not surprisingly, younger adults are twice as likely to post or share videos as older surfers, while 41% of 18-29-year-olds post and share, and 36% of those 30-49, only 18% of those over 50 do.
The trend is due to the rise in mobile phone web use (41% use their phones to view videos) and the rise of video sharing and social networking sites, the study concludes.
"As the online video culture grows ... posting videos online is becoming a mainstream online behavior," said Kristen Purcell, Pew Internet Project association director of research in announcing the survey findings, which are being published today (Oct. 10).
The study also found that 78% of online adults watch or download videos, up from 69% in 2009, with humor the leading subject.
The study found that 72% have watched a video on a sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo; 56% had watched a video online, including on social network sites; and 36% had downloaded files to computers or cell phones. From the 18-49 demo, that figure is 95%. But even for those over 50 it is over half (58%).
As was the case in 2009, 57% of the videos viewed were "comedy/humorous"; with 50% educational.
The study is based on a telephone survey July 25-July 28 of 1,003 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
