In less than a quarter of a century, internet use in the largest countries in the region has grown from practically zero to encompass a clear majority of inhabitants.
You might not know who Tony LC sign is yet, but it's almost certain that many of those around you, particularly if they are millennials or Gen Z, do.
As «Radii» indicates in a piece from January, Tony has been lighting up the internet, pun very intended, with a regular diet of YouTube shorts, exhorting viewers to order his Guangzhou-based companies LED light boxes after a quick-witted, droll take on anything or anyone he sees as being overly woke in the social media influencer space.
Rising Internet Access
But there is another larger truth out there for the taking. His virtuosic ability to imitate a variety of English accents and his company’s business are a clear expression and key reason behind Asia's and China’s economic rise in the 21st century. And that reason is internet access.
A graphic released by Our World in Data charts its growth from practically zero in 2000 in the region’s four largest countries to encompass a preponderant majority of the population.
Mainland Majority
In China, internet use was at an almost unbelievably low 2 percent in 2000 but now it stands at 77 percent.
In Indonesia, it has grown to 69 percent from the same low 2 percent starting point, while on the subcontinent it's gain hasn’t been quite as stark but still almost as impressive. In India, internet use in 2023 was at 43 percent and in Pakistan, it was up at 33 percent, against 1 percent almost a quarter of a century earlier.
More to Come
The four countries, as Our World in Data indicates, are home to 40 percent of the world’s population.
Regardless of the tos and fros of our socially-media and AI-addled world, that certainly sets the stage for a large number of future Tony LCs to put out their messages.
