There is no doubt that the internet is growing in terms of users and what it can achieve. This information has been quantified and documented by OFCOM in their bi-annual UK Adult’s Media Literacy Report that was released earlier this week. The report is based upon a quantitative survey involving over 1800 people aged 16 plus, which although is a small percentage of the total population, it provides an insight into developing trends since the previous reports published in 2005 and 2007.
Who is using the internet?
As you can see from the graph below, the dominant age group of internet users are those in the 35 - 44 age bracket followed closely by those aged 25 - 34, however comparing the statistics against previous years, there has been a slight decline in the number of users in these age brackets with the 65+ age bracket increasing by 2%.
How accessible is the internet?
The internet is becoming more accessible with the vast majority of modern mobile phones now enabling web browsing. Whilst a PC or laptop is still the most common means to access the internet, nearly a third of people will search the internet on their phone, whilst 10% use a games console and 6% use a portable media player to view websites. By far the 16 - 34 age bracket are the one’s using alternative technologies to access the internet.
How much time is being spent on the internet per week?
The number of hours that people spend on the internet per week on the whole is increasing since 2007. This is the trend for people accessing the internet at home or “anywhere else” whilst the use of internet at work or school has declined.
Not shown in the graph put written in the report, men on average spend 4½ hours more time at home and at work / school on the internet than women, most of which is done at home.
Reasons for using the internet
To ‘find out or learn things’ is the by far the most popular reason that adults use the internet with ‘for contact with other people’ coming in behind. In terms of gender differences, men are more inclined to use the internet to keep up to date with news and sports, but other than that they are pretty matched.
In terms of ages, those in the 45 - 54 bracket use the internet for most to find out and learn things (85%), followed by 35 - 44 year olds (79%), 55 - 64 year olds (76%) and 16 - 24 year olds (72%).
Internet users attitudes towards the internet
For those that use the internet they do so because they overwhelmingly believe that it makes life easier (81%) and saves time (87%). Conversely those that do not use the internet found that it was too difficult to use or didn’t know (70%) and were more unaware of how it can help save time, make life easier and the risk of putting privacy at risk.
Internet activities carried out at least once a week
The number of people that are purchasing items over the internet on a weekly basis has dropped by 2% in since 2007 which when questioned was during the recession and so that may have influenced their decision. To communicate is still by far the most popular activity carried out on a weekly basis whilst the use of social networks has increased by 16% in two years.
The increase in popularity of social media
For those interested in social media and its growth of popularity in recent years, this is the section for you. Everyone knows that social media has exploded in recent years and this is evident from the graph shown below.
The graph shows the difference in the number of people that have set up their own social media profile page between 2007 and 2009. In regards to age the 25 - 34 year olds have seen the greatest increase (38%) with the smallest increase being in the 55 - 65 age range (3%). More women than men have created social media pages whilst a greater number of people in the DE socio - economic group have created profiles.
Most popular social media websites
Those that had answered the previous question by saying that they had created a profile on a social media website were then asked on which websites. The results show that most people only creating a profile on one website with Facebook resoundingly leading the way and being the website of choice for 90%, a 28% increase since 2007. MySpace’s glory days appear to be over with a decline of 28% in the same two years, and other social networks such as Bebo and Hi5 share a similar fate.
So what does all this information mean?
These statistics emphasise that there is a growing trend to make use of the internet across all age groups, genders and social classes which highlights that with online marketing businesses can target a whole range of people in volumes that they couldn’t do just a few years ago. This means that a greater emphasis should be placed on improving a company’s online visibility which would predominantly be through search engine optimisation, social media marketing and pay per click.
The development of social media websites continues to grow which increases the importance for companies, especially with a target market of 16 - 34 year olds, to use it effectively in order to generate interest and sales of their products and / or services.
The information provided here is just a snippet of what the 92 page report shows, if you would like to read more of the report you can download it from the link at the top of the page.
