In a New Web Minute (Everything Can Change!)

It’s been said a million times that everything can change in a New York minute. Hence, the rather unfortunate title to this particular piece. Still, it’s a pretty accurate proclamation and one that rings just as true in a wide variety of arenas outside NYC. But given the fact that a single minute in the real world is enough time for a LOT to happen, how about a minute online?Or better yet, a single second? These days, the pace at which things are happening online is almost impossible to comprehend. One single second in the real world may be just enough time to blink your eyes a couple of times, but by way of Internet time is practically forever. Snap your fingers just once and you may find it almost impossible to believe exactly how much online activity has just taken place.And it’s not all pointless figures just for impressing (or boring) those fortunate enough to talk to you, either. Instead, it’s about gaining a better understanding of just how important each and every Internet second is, in order to ensure that you and your business waste as few of them as possible!Incredible NumbersAccording to one of the most recent estimates, there are now somewhere in the region of 3.4 billion people in the world with Internet connections. Or to put it another way, that’s just over 46% of the entire population of earth. Which is impressive enough, but when you consider the fact that the figure was as low as 31% back in 2010, you start to get an idea of just how quickly the web is taking over the world.And it’s not just the speed at which Internet adoption is spreading worldwide either. It’s also the way in which more people than ever before are spending more time than ever before online. For example, one study found that over the past five years alone, the average amount of time each Internet user spends online has increased 200%. Other research suggests that the average adult now spends a minimum of 20 hours each and every week online, while teenagers spend no less than 27 hours each week online.Unsurprisingly, both figures are only guaranteed to continue increasing and accelerating going forward.Which begs the obvious question – what exactly are the world’s billions of Internet users doing while spending so much of their lives online? Or to put it another way, what exactly is happening on the Internet this very second?The Value of One Internet SecondIt will probably come as no surprise to learn that social media accounts for quite a lot of the activity that takes place in the average Internet second. For example, somewhere in the region of 6,000 tweets are now sent by the world’s Twitter contingency every 60 seconds. During the same time, approximately 1,100 Instagram images and videos are uploaded, which equates to a rather extraordinary 95 million every single day.In terms of social networks however, it is once again Facebook that takes the figures of its rivals and essentially blasts them into kingdom come. According to a recent study carried out by Zephoria, no less than 3,472 images are added to Facebook by its members each and every second, along with an astonishing 52,000 likes. Which technically isn’t entirely surprising, given that Facebook itself recently revealed that there were no less than 1.09 billion daily users hitting their social platform throughout March.Somehow though, YouTube goes above and beyond when it comes to the kinds of figures that seem to confirm exactly how addicted the world is to the Internet. The latest statistics on this particular platform suggest that more or less 125,000 videos are watched each and every second of every day. When you add this up over the average month, the total tally is…well, let’s just say it’s a ridiculous figure!How about Reddit? Well, given the fact that it is ranked within the top ten most popular websites in the United States, you wouldn’t expect it to be a shrinking violet. And nor is it, with at least 23 comments and 289 votes being cast every second. But while these figures don’t seem to stand up with the rest, Justin Bassett of Reddit recently stated that the platform chalks up no less than 290 million page views every single day.Last but not least, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Google would be chalking up some mind-blowing sixty-second statistics of its own…and you’d be right! As of right now, approximately 55,000 searches are carried out via Google every single second, which equates to no less than 90 billion every month and in excess of 1 trillion every year.So next time you get the impression that a single second really isn’t long enough for a great deal to happen, you might want to think again!