• by Masha Geller , December 16, 2002

Did you know that 7.1 million African Americans used the Internet in October 2001? According to comScore, while African Americans' share of the online population is below their share of the total U.S. population, this online audience is already sizeable and destined to become only more significant as broad Internet adoption continues. In October 2002, African Americans represented 5% (7.1 million) of that month's total of 142.7 million Internet users; compared to the average Internet surfer, African American users spend 5% more time online.

What do African Americans do online? A ranking of the comScore Media Metrix Internet categories by the percentage of African Americans versus total visitors reveals that this population looks to the Internet for entertainment, community and communication. Top categories associated with entertainment include: Music, Movies, Gaming Information and Multimedia. Top categories associated with community and communication are: Discussion and Chat, Religion, Instant Messengers, Personals, and E-Mail. The number one category based on percentage of African American visitors is Careers.

There are some noticeable differences in the top 15 Internet property rankings (by unique visitors) for African Americans versus the total U.S. Internet population. First, Viacom Online is in the top 15 visitor ranking only for African Americans, driven by the network's many brands and sites geared to this audience, including BET.com (Black Entertainment Television), Roc-a-fella-records.com, as well as several radio and movie sites. While many of the same properties are in both rankings, some rank higher for African Americans versus the total audience, including Vivendi (ranked number nine versus 11) and Real.com Network (ranked number 14 versus 15).

To identify specific online destinations that are especially attractive to the African American audience, comScore identified sites at which blacks comprised 15% or more of the total audience. Not surprisingly, the leading sites were explicitly geared to African American culture: Blackplanet.com and BET.com. Apparel was also popular: Footlocker.com, Nike, Eastbay.com and Newport-News.com.