It’s pretty incredible to consider how much the Internet has made its way into our everyday lives. It’s also interesting to consider not only all the different things we use the Internet for but how and where we access the Web.

When you want to jump on the Web, does it involve plopping down in your favorite chair and firing up your PC or does your key to the Internet live in your pocket, on your mobile phone? Recent studies have shown that recently, more and more Americans have been accessing the Internet from their mobile device.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project, www.pewinternet.org, recently conducted a survey which found six out of 10 adults in America now use the Internet wirelessly. In May 2010 alone, Pew says 59% of American adults wirelessly access the Web, which is up 8% from 2009.

Pew’s definition for a wireless Internet user is two-fold. First, it could be someone who accesses the Web on a laptop via a mobile broadband card or Wi-Fi connectivity. Currently, 47% of adults access the Web this way, up from 39% last year. Secondly, there are those who use a mobile device, such as a cell phone, to access the Web. According to the survey, 40% of American adults access the Web this way, which is an increase from 32% last year.

Keeping in line with all of the innovative new features we now have access to on our mobile phones, Pew added some additional questions to the survey which highlight how many American adults use these capabilities. For example, Pew says 54% of survey respondents have sent a video or a photo to someone using a mobile device, and 20% have used their phone to watch a video online.

Additionally, 23% have logged onto a social networking site using their phone and 10% have used their phone to update their status on one of these sites. Another interesting statistic from the survey was the number of mobile data applications used on cell phones in relation to ethnicity. According to Pew, 87% of black and Hispanic Americans own a cell phone, compared to 80% of white Americans, and minorities also use a greater amount of data applications on their mobile devices than white cell phone owners.

Pew says the results of this survey are based on information collected from telephone interviews with 2,252 American adults (18+) in April and May 2010.

While the report indicated young adults are still the biggest users of mobile data applications, numbers in the 30-49 year age range are continuously increasing each year. With the numbers growing as rapidly as they are, it will be interesting to see how the market looks at this time again next year.