BitTorrent used to be the most popular way for people to share large files online. But now, things have changed. New information from a Canadian company called Sandvine shows that other things like cloud storage and YouTube are more popular now. This change marks the end of BitTorrent’s time as the leader in online file sharing.
Over the past twenty years, the internet has grown a lot, with more and more data being sent and received each year. But what people are doing online has changed a lot too.
Back in 2004, BitTorrent was responsible for a big chunk, about 35%, of all internet activity. This was because people were sharing files a lot through BitTorrent. But now, with things like YouTube and Netflix, most internet activity is about watching videos, not sharing files.
Even among people who share files illegally, BitTorrent isn’t as popular as it used to be. Most of these sites now let you stream content instead of downloading it, so BitTorrent’s share of the market has dropped.
People have been keeping an eye on how much stuff gets uploaded to the internet too. For a long time, BitTorrent was the main way people uploaded things. But now, other things like cloud storage have taken over. BitTorrent still matters for some people, especially on regular internet connections, but it’s not as big as it used to be.
The latest data from Sandvine shows that video streaming and social media are now the most popular things people do online. BitTorrent isn’t even in the top list anymore. And when it comes to uploading stuff, BitTorrent is no longer the top dog. Other apps like cloud storage and FaceTime are now more popular for uploading things.
The report talks about how much data people are sending online, especially through a system called BitTorrent. BitTorrent is often used for sharing large files, like movies or software.
Even though the average person doesn’t send a lot of data through BitTorrent, the few people who do use it send a lot. This includes some people who share things illegally (pirates) and others who use it for legitimate purposes, like sharing big research files.
The report predicts that fewer people might use BitTorrent in the future because more content is becoming available through streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
It also mentions that it’s hard to measure all the data sent through BitTorrent accurately because some people use tools like VPNs to hide what they’re doing online. However, even if we can’t measure it perfectly, it’s clear that BitTorrent is no longer as popular as it used to be.
This report marks the end of an era because BitTorrent has been a big part of the internet for the past twenty years. It’s likely that this will be the last report about BitTorrent on this website unless something surprising happens in the future.
