2.8 BILLION AND COUNTING: That's the number of Internet users today, according to research featured in Mary Meeker's 20th Internet Trends Report. The annual slide deck from the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner offers a pulse check on the state of the Internet, and this latest edition extols the explosive growth of mobile technology, powered by messaging apps like WhatsApp and on-demand services like Uber and AirBnB. In 2014 there were 5.2 billion mobile phone users, with 2.1 billion on smartphones.
A few trends worth highlighting as they pertain to youth and education:
- Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitter remain the most popular social platforms for 12 to 24 year-olds (slide 68);
- 87 percent of millenials say that "my smartphone never leaves my side, night or day" (69);
- US consumer spending on education dipped six percent from 2013 to 2014 (76);
- High-skilled and knowledge-based jobs grew 2x since 1983 (99)
- Training and development is the most valued work benefit among millenials age 15 to 35 (110)
