The global phenomenon, the World Wide Web, was created 25 years ago and it has become an integral part of many peoples’ lives, including many in Georgia.
A recent survey revealed many in Georgia were able to access the internet.
Almost 2,000 Georgians across the country were surveyed in late 2013 when the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) conducted a survey on behalf of Transparency International Georgia to get a better understanding of how and where the internet was being used in Georgia.
CRRC interviewed 1, 918 locals to gain a sense of their internet habits and reasons for use.
Results of the nationwide poll indicated half of the Georgian population had access to the internet.
More than half of people aged 18-35 used the internet every day. Conversely, in the same age group, more than a fifth of Georgians did not use the internet at all.
The older generation used the internet less frequently. About 50 percent of people aged 36-55 did not use the internet and 75 percent of people older than 56 were off the net.
Researchers said access to internet in Georgia was a big issue and people in rural areas found it difficult or could not access the internet at all.
This was reflected in the results, which showed Tbilisi dominated in terms of internet penetration. Half of those surveyed who lived in Tbilisi said they used the internet every day.
"A huge gap exists between the rural and urban populations in this regard,” researchers said.
Nearly half of the young people in rural Georgia had never used the internet while a quarter of youth in urban areas were online every day.
For a comparison, 80 percent of Tbilisi adults (18-35) were online every day while this figure dropped to 60 percent in other Georgian cities.
The survey also showed the internet in Georgia was free of notable Government censorship, in a sense that there were no known cases of blocked online content, services or applications.
Researchers said the internet had gained popularity over the years and was deemed the second most important source of information, after television.
The poll revealed Georgians used the internet primarily for entertainment purposes and for keeping in touch with people.
The younger generation were more likely to use internet for entertainment purposes (38%), while older citizens went online for news (20%) and work-related issues (24%).
Researchers recommended the Government should introduce projects aimed at improving computer literacy and increasing internet penetration in Georgia.
Researchers also said special attention should be paid to increasing the rate of internet users in rural areas and to enable older generations to go online, while also providing young generations with skills and knowledge to enable them to apply new technologies.