All of the Island telephone exchanges are broadband enabled and in addition, some urban areas such as Cowes and Newport are covered by cable lines. Some areas, such as Arreton, have no broadband in certain places.

The Isle of Wight has one local broadsheet newspaper, The Isle of Wight County Press. It discusses local issues and is published each Friday, or on the last working day if a public holiday falls on a Friday.

The Island's television station was Solent TV. In March, 2006, it was launched onto Sky. Unfortunately, this was not financially sustainable and the station became insolvent, causing its closure on Thursday, 24th May, 2007.

The Island has one radio station, Isle of Wight Radio, broadcasting on 107 and 102 FM and the internet. It is a commercial radio station and is listened to by many Island residents. The Island has access to other nearby local radio stations. However, these are based off the Island.

There are sixty-nine Local Education Authority-maintained schools on the Isle of Wight, and two independent schools. As a rural community, many of these schools are small, with average numbers of pupils lower than in many urban areas. There are currently five high schools. However there are plans to close at least one. There is also the Isle of Wight College, which is located on the outskirts of Newport.The Island uses a middle school system.

Over the years, the island has had many well known visitors. Many come over for health reasons due to the cool sea breeze and clean air. For example, Winston Churchill and Karl Marx.

There is a variety of sporting activity on the Island. Cowes Week is the longest-running regular regatta in the world with over 1,000 yachts and 8,500 competitors taking part in over 50 classes of yacht racing. The Isle of Wight Marathon is the United Kingdom's oldest continuously held marathon, having been run every year since 1957. The course starts in Ryde, passing through Newport, Shanklin and Sandown, before finishing back in Ryde. It is an undulating course with a total climb of 1,505 feet. In 1851 the first America's Cup took place around the Island.

The Island is home to the Isle of Wight Islanders Speedway team, who compete in the sport's second division, the 'Premier League. The club was founded in 1996, with a first-night attendance of 1740.

The now-disbanded Ryde Sports F.C. was founded in 1888 and became one of the eight founder members of the Hampshire League in 1896. There are several other non-league clubs such as Newport (IW) F.C.. There is an Isle of Wight Saturday Football League with three divisions, and a rugby club, plus various other sporting teams. Beach football is particularly prevalent on the Island and boast several of the nation's premier clubs, such as the Wight Knuckle Ryders.

The Island geography, close to the densely populated south of England, led to it gaining three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst which are located outside Newport on the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were once among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) made their way out of the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days of freedom before being recaptured. Parkhurst especially enjoyed notoriety as one of toughest jails in the British Isles and "hosted" many notable inmates, including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and the Kray twins.

Camp Hill is located to the west of, and adjacent to Albany and Parkhurst, on the very edge of Parkhurst Forest, having been converted to a borstal and later a category C prison. It was originally on the site of an army camp (both Albany and Parkhurst were barracks) where there is a small estate of tree-lined roads with well-proportioned officers' quarters (with varying grandeur according to rank, but now privately owned) to the south and east.