Categories: Web

Internet usage spikes during superstorm Sandy

Internet usage on the East coast of the United States spiked 114% on Monday as many workers and school-goers were confined to their homes during superstorm Sandy.

Sandvine, a company that works with internet service providers to improve customer experience, collected data from a singular, but unnamed, city on the East coast directly in Sandy’s path between 9am – 5pm EDT.

Internet usage surges during Hurricane Sandy

Internet usage increased 114% when compared to a similar period on a typical Monday during October. The increase was sustained throughout the day.

Usage patterns were said to be “similar to what is observed on weekday evenings”, with internet communication services and media consumption among the most popular activities.

Netflix witnessed a traffic volume increase of 150%, while Skype witnessed a service usage increase of 122%, with a notable spike around 5pm.

While these aforementioned high-bandwidth services are likely responsible for the majority of traffic surge, internet conversation around the topic was also huge. Facebook’s Journalism Program Manager Vadim Lavrusik posted the top 10 shared terms on Facebook in the United States yesterday morning. They speak for themselves;

  1. we are ok
  2. power – lost power, have power, no power
  3. damage
  4. hope everyone is ok
  5. trees
  6. made it
  7. safe
  8. thankful
  9. fine
  10. affected
Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

Competing in the post-gatekeeper era: How the DMA is rewiring platforms, security, and market access

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) has joined the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as one…

1 day ago

Horasis India Meeting to Spotlight India’s Global Ascent At Singapore Summit This Month

Amid several years of shifting global dynamics, it’s become increasingly clear that we are entering…

3 days ago

AI scams targeting businesses are surging: Here are the top 3 threats your team is likely to face in 2026 (Brains Byte Back Podcast)

Imagine a company interviewing a candidate for a senior IT role. The résumé checks out,…

3 days ago

AI Won’t Scale in Advertising Until Trust Does: How to Identify AI Tools That Deliver Quality Security and Expertise

At the start of the year, data suggested that only about a third of agencies,…

3 days ago

What It Means When Algorithms Say “I”: Toward a Theory of Digital Subjectivity

Picture an AI assistant you have worked with for the past five years. It knows…

3 days ago

Why One of the Oldest Coding Languages Still Outsmarts Modern AI

They tried to kill it. To bury it for good. But every time, it clawed back — stronger,…

3 days ago