Technology
Here’s What Happens Every Minute on the Internet in 2020
What Happens Every Minute on the Internet in 2020
In 2020, an unfathomable amount of digital activity is occurring at any given moment. This ongoing explosion in activity is the aggregate output of 4.5 billion internet users today, a number that’s projected to increase even further in coming years.
This powerful visual from Domo helps capture what happens each minute in today’s hyper-connected internet era, and it’s actually the eighth edition produced since the year 2012.
What can we learn from the evolution of what happens in an internet minute?
How Times Have Changed
Over its relatively short history, the internet has been a catalyst for both the rise and demise of new companies and platforms.
By looking at which brands have appeared in the graphic in earlier years, we can roughly chart the prominence of certain tech segments, as well as observe brands with the most staying power.
As you can see above, platforms like Tumblr, Flickr, and Foursquare showed some promise, but eventually got omitted from the graphic as they dropped off in relevance.
Meanwhile, tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google have had impressive staying power, evolving to become some of the biggest companies in the world. In the process, they’ve caught up to longer-standing titans like Apple and Microsoft at the top of the food chain.
The New “New Thing”
Not surprisingly, much of the internet landscape looks different in 2020. Here are a few of the digital hot spots today.
Cash Transfers
Nearly $240,000 worth of transactions occur on Venmo per minute. This has served as a catalyst for parent company PayPal, which evolved along successfully with fintech trends. PayPal’s stock now trades at near all-time highs.
E-Commerce
Even before COVID-19 resulted in shuttered storefronts and surging online orders, e-commerce was a booming industry. It’s now estimated that $1 million is now spent per minute online. Amazon ships an astounding 6,659 packages every minute to keep up with this demand.
Collaboration Tools
In a predominantly remote-working environment, tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams host 208,333 and 52,083 users each minute respectively. Particularly in the pandemic era, it seems that this trend is here to stay.
Accelerated Turnover
The accelerated world we are in today means that many companies do not sustain a competitive advantage for as long. Social media companies have dwindled as observed above, and this is similarly reflected in the average lifespan of an S&P 500 company.
A typical company’s tenure on the S&P 500 is expected to shrink rapidly in the next few years:
- 1964: 33 years
- 2016: 24 years
- 2027E: 12 years
Companies are shaving anywhere between 15-20 years off those highs, with estimates of further declines. This metric symbolizes the rapid evolution of the business landscape.
What Lies Ahead
It’s seemingly easy to forget mankind is still very early in the developments when it comes to the internet. But in this short period, its rise to prominence and the broad digitization of the world has left us with a very eventful timeline.
If the last decade serves as a reference point, one can expect further and intensifying competition among tech companies. After all, the reward—winning in today’s digital economy—reaps much greater value.
All signs point to internet activity advancing to further heights, if not because of 5G and its associated breakthroughs, then perhaps due to the steady rise in people gaining internet access.
AI
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Nearly 800,000 AI jobs were posted in the U.S. throughout 2022. View this graphic to see a breakdown by state.

Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Much ink has been spilled over fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate jobs in the economy. While some of those fears may be well-founded, red-hot interest in AI innovation is creating new jobs as well.
This graphic visualizes data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which shows how many AI-related jobs were posted in each state throughout 2022.
In total there were 795,624 AI jobs posted throughout the year, of which 469,925 (59%) were in the top 10. The full tally is included in the table below.
Rank | State | Number of job postings | % of total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 142,154 | 17.9% |
2 | Texas | 66,624 | 8.4% |
3 | New York | 43,899 | 5.5% |
4 | Massachusetts | 34,603 | 4.3% |
5 | Virginia | 34,221 | 4.3% |
6 | Florida | 33,585 | 4.2% |
7 | Illinois | 31,569 | 4.0% |
8 | Washington | 31,284 | 3.9% |
9 | Georgia | 26,620 | 3.3% |
10 | Michigan | 25,366 | 3.2% |
11 | North Carolina | 23,854 | 3.0% |
12 | New Jersey | 23,447 | 2.9% |
13 | Colorado | 20,421 | 2.6% |
14 | Pennsylvania | 20,397 | 2.6% |
15 | Arizona | 19,514 | 2.5% |
16 | Ohio | 19,208 | 2.4% |
17 | Maryland | 16,769 | 2.1% |
18 | Minnesota | 11,808 | 1.5% |
19 | Tennessee | 11,173 | 1.4% |
20 | Missouri | 10,990 | 1.4% |
21 | Oregon | 10,811 | 1.4% |
22 | Washington, D.C. | 9,606 | 1.2% |
23 | Indiana | 9,247 | 1.2% |
24 | Connecticut | 8,960 | 1.1% |
25 | Wisconsin | 8,879 | 1.1% |
26 | Alabama | 7,866 | 1.0% |
27 | Kansas | 7,683 | 1.0% |
28 | Arkansas | 7,247 | 0.9% |
29 | Utah | 6,885 | 0.9% |
30 | Nevada | 6,813 | 0.9% |
31 | Idaho | 6,109 | 0.8% |
32 | Oklahoma | 5,719 | 0.7% |
33 | Iowa | 5,670 | 0.7% |
34 | South Carolina | 4,928 | 0.6% |
35 | Louisiana | 4,806 | 0.6% |
36 | Kentucky | 4,536 | 0.6% |
37 | Nebraska | 4,032 | 0.5% |
38 | Delaware | 3,503 | 0.4% |
39 | New Mexico | 3,357 | 0.4% |
40 | Rhode Island | 2,965 | 0.4% |
41 | New Hampshire | 2,719 | 0.3% |
42 | Hawaii | 2,550 | 0.3% |
43 | Mississippi | 2,548 | 0.3% |
44 | Maine | 2,227 | 0.3% |
45 | South Dakota | 2,195 | 0.3% |
46 | Vermont | 1,571 | 0.2% |
47 | North Dakota | 1,227 | 0.2% |
48 | Alaska | 970 | 0.1% |
49 | West Virginia | 887 | 0.1% |
50 | Montana | 833 | 0.1% |
51 | Wyoming | 769 | 0.1% |
The following chart adds some context to these numbers. It shows how the percentage of AI job postings in some of the top states has changed since 2010.
We can see that California quickly became the primary destination for AI jobs in the early 2010s, presumably as Silicon Valley companies began developing the technology.
California’s share has since declined, with a significant number of jobs seemingly moving to Texas. In fact, many tech companies are relocating to Texas to avoid California’s relatively higher taxes and cost of living.
The 10 Most In-Demand Specialized Skills
Lightcast also captured the top 10 specialized skills that were required for AI-related jobs. These are listed in the table below.
Skill | Frequency (number of postings) | Frequency (% of postings) |
---|---|---|
Python | 296,662 | 37% |
Computer Science | 260,333 | 33% |
SQL | 185,807 | 23% |
Data Analysis | 159,801 | 20% |
Data Science | 157,855 | 20% |
Amazon Web Services | 155,615 | 19% |
Agile Methodology | 152,965 | 19% |
Automation | 138,791 | 17% |
Java | 133,856 | 17% |
Software Engineering | 133,286 | 17% |
If you’re interested in a career that focuses on AI, becoming proficient in Python is likely to be a good first step.
-
Visual Capitalist3 weeks ago
Calling All Data Storytellers to Enter our Creator Program Challenge
-
Technology3 days ago
Ranked: The World’s Top 25 Websites in 2023
-
Cities2 weeks ago
Ranked: Top 10 Cities Where International Travelers Spend the Most
-
AI2 days ago
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
-
VC+2 weeks ago
Coming Soon: Here’s What’s Coming to VC+ Next
-
Personal Finance4 weeks ago
Ranked: The Best U.S. States for Retirement
-
Demographics2 weeks ago
Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People
-
Commodities4 weeks ago
Charted: Commodities vs Equity Valuations (1970–2023)