Video is becoming more and more important to Internet users, with the use of online video-sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo up compared with last year, according to a new study.

The study, from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project, revealed that video-sharing site usage has risen to 71% of online Americans (up from 66% last year) equally split across gender lines. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sites tend to be frequented by younger viewers, with 92% of users aged 18-29 using them, compared with 54% of ages 50-64 and only 31% of users aged 65 and above. Hispanic users are more likely to use the sites than African American or Caucasian users (81% versus 76% and 69%, respectively), and those based in urban areas are more likely than those in suburbia or rural areas (72% versus 71% and 68%, respectively).

Interestingly, the study found that increased use of these sites coincides with increases in site content, and suggests that the rise in watching videos online is connected to a rise in making videos: “Some 34% of the cell phone owners in the country have shot video with their phone; 26% have watched video on their phone; and 22% have posted videos or photos online,” says the report.

via TIME.com