Also of note in the report, 40 percent of African Americans have a high-speed Internet connection in the home. According to the Pew Institute, this figure has nearly tripled from the same survey taken in early 2005 (when it was a 14 percent adoption rate).

To read more about broadband Internet adoption from the Pew Institute, click here.

My Two Cents: I guess the Internet is more than just a passing fad. What’s more, it’s getting faster and faster.

• It confirms that the things we search for most are actually on the Internet–online services;
• It confirms that consumers want Web access to traditional brick and mortar stores;
• It shows that people are looking for interaction online;
• It may be proof that social networking sites are more than a trend;
• It proves that Yahoo! is more searched than Google–my bet is people are “Googleing” Yahoo!, what an irony.

Here’s the top ten list according to Hitwise:

1. MySpace
2. ebay
3. Yahoo!
4. Mapquest
5. craigslist
6. WalMart
7. Google
8. Target
9. match.com
10. Bank of America

My Two Cents: Does this list represent anything significant? To some degree, I would say yes. The survey was based on data from 10 million Internet users, and although that is a statistically significant number, to be sure we would need to compare lists over the years. At the very least, this list serves as great case studies or best practices for anyone who wants to become successful on the Internet.

My Two Cents: Web 2.0 is still evolving and it behooves us to figure it out before it becomes Web 3.0.

As a communicator, I really get a kick out of the new communications channels the Internet has provided, and podcasting is cool because it is tech-heavy, i.e., it requires a little bit of techknowledge in order to put it out there. The problem I have is this: How many people are going to use/listen to my podcast?

My gut tells me that tons of people know what a podcast is, thanks to Steve Jobs’ iPod. But I think, and my good friend Russ Page agrees, the curve for adoption from there drops off big time. Now ask people if they’ve listened to a podcast, probably a pretty good response, but then get into “Do you listen to the podcasts you subscribe to on a regular basis?”; “Do you know how to subscribe to a podcast?”; “Do you know how to create a podcast?” I base much of this off of my own experience, I listen to podcasts from time to time, I even subscribe to a handful, but because my work is thought intensive, I really can’t listen to the podcast during the day, and that doesn’t leave a lot of other time for me to listen to the podcast.

I think podcasting is a valuable tool, but it needs a little more education to speed up the adoption process. According to the Pew Institute, an April 2005 report stated that more than 22 million Americans own an Ipod or an mp3 player, of those, 29 percent have downloaded a podcast. that’s 6 million people. Definitely a lot, but the study doesn’t show repeat use, and can’t say for certain if the podcast was actually listened to–which as a communicator is very important. The research was also limited to those older than 18.

Here are some other interesting points:

• There are no differences between men and women owners of iPods/MP3 players
when it comes to podcasting. They are equally likely to have downloaded
podcasts.
• Nearly half of those who own iPods/MP3 players between the ages of 18-28 have
downloaded podcasts, compared to about 20% of the owners iPods/MP3 players
over age 29 who have done so.
• Somewhat surprisingly, there is no notable gap between those who have
broadband access and dial-up users when it comes to podcasting. Some 33% of
the owners of iPods/MP3 players who have broadband at home have downloaded
podcasts and 28% of those who have dial-up at home have done so. This is not a
statistically significant difference.

My Two Cents: I think it is still an evolving channel and given the adoption rate thus far, it may prove to be a quickly growing channel that is growing exponentially. At the very least, I think that a podcast can be a great additional resource, I would use a podcast to compliment a fact sheet or bio, it would add some audio that investors or journalists might be interested in listening to.
What do you think? Have you had success/failure with podcasting? Do you think it is a viable channel?

Read the survey results here

My Two Cents: It’s always nice to know how to get more media coverage; what’s better is when the person telling you that is the journalist!