How Americans Spend Their Time Online
Published in SSRN, 2026
We examine where people spend their time online, analyzing desktop browsing data collected from the National Internet Observatory (NIO). Key findings include: a few platforms and a tiny number of companies dominate where Americans spend their time online, with Alphabet alone accounting for 35% of total browsing time; Americans spend half their online time on social media and email; AI tools such as ChatGPT already account for more online time than news; and the web is highly age-segregated, with older users concentrated on email and younger users spending more time on YouTube, Google apps, and ChatGPT.
Recommended citation: Lazer, D., Ozturan, B., Wilson, C., Choffnes, D., Waldrip, C., Lu, H., & Wihbey, J. (2026). How Americans Spend Their Time Online. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6991638 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6991638
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