UPDATED 10:50 EDT / MARCH 21 2014

5 billion gigabytes of data, broken down by generation

Screen shot 2014-03-21 at 8.49.42 AMDid you know that since the beginning of time, man has generated five billion gigabytes of data?  Well, that was true until 2003.  Now, we generate that same amount of data every two days – that’s a lot of data.

Every single online user leaves a digital footprint.  It can be through the online services we use, like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, or the media we consume on our mobile devices.  It can also be generated just by using our computers, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, and all other computing devices.

Wikibon’s Data Footprints by Generations infographic divides the population into three main generations that consume and create the most amount of data: millennials – age 18-29 years old or those under the age of 34, Generation X age 30-49 or 35-54, and the Boomers – age 50-64 or 55 and above.

Currently, Generation X consumes and produces the most amount of data per month at 59.5 gigabytes.  This generation consumes the most amount of online video, spends the most time online, and uses more mobiles devices thus leaving the most amount of digital footprint.

How much more data will humans be consuming and producing five years from now?  It’s hard to tell, but as more social sites sprout, more apps get developed, more new mobile devices are released, we may soon be producing five billion gigabytes of data an hour.

Infographics are a fun way to consume new information, so if you want to learn more about the world of technology on hot topics such as Big Data, the hacktivist collective Anonymous, or how the role of CIOs are evolving, Check out Wikibon’s infographic page and indulge on the wealth of information it has creatively collected.

wikibon-data-footprint


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