84% Of U.S. Adults Now Use Web Daily. 50% Own Smartphones. Tablet Ownership Doubles To 19% In 2012.

[Mike Temkin]

According to a new Forrester Research report, overall online penetration rate in the U.S. has stabilized at 79% (same as 2011) on a monthly basis. Big change in online usage is that in 2012 84% of adults went online at least once per day in 2012 compared to 78% in 2011

Growing usage of smartphones and tablets is one of the factors making online access easier than before.  Forrester reports about half of U.S. online adults now own a smartphone and tablet adoption has doubled since 2011 and is now at 19%.

Forrester also reports on distinct usage patterns among different generations.  

18-to-23-year-olds are far more active on social networks than anybody else. About 70% of 18-23 years olds “visit social networking sites daily” and 85% visit Facebook at least once a month.

Those in the 24-32 bracket are more likely to own a tablet (about 25%) and/or a smartphone (72%).

Older online adults (47 years old and older) are more likely to use desktop computers at home and are less likely to own tablets and smartphones. Nevertheless, in the older demographic, tablet adoption has doubled to 14% since 2011.

Survey data is from nearly 60,000 consumers in the U.S. and Canada.