Technology: How the World Lives On-line

I love reports that come out, giving us fascinating glimpses into how technology is shaping our behaviour online and TNS Digital Life has now published the largest ever global research project into people's online activities, interviewing 50,000 individuals in 46 countries, covering almost 90% of the world's online population! The purpose of the study is to reveal how the world's online behaviour may be changing in terms of both consumption and communication; and among the findings was that online consumers in emerging, rapid growth markets are more engaged than those in mature markets, with Egypt and China, for example, having much higher levels of digital engagement than Japan, Denmark or Finland.

In these rapid growth technology markets, blogging and social networking are becoming increasingly popular. For example in 88% of online users in China and 51% in Brazil have their own blogs, as compared to only 32% in the U.S. While, 92% of those in Thailand, 88% of those in Malaysia and 87% of those online users in Vietnam have uploaded photos to social networks, as compared to only 28% of those in Japan.

The TNS digital report points to the adoption of mobile technology as fuelling these trends. Mobile users spend more time on social networks, and respondents indicated that they anticipate spending even more time on them in the future. On average, across the globe, we are spending more time on social networking sites. The heaviest users of social networking are in Malaysia where people spend nine hours per week; while in Russia, online users spend 8.1 per week on social networking sites; and in Turkey, they spend 7.7 hours a week.  Interestingly, Malaysians have the highest number of friends on these sites - an average of 233. In Brazil, the average is 231. This is compared to countries like Japan, where the average is 29, and South Korea, where the average is 50.

Matthew Froggatt, TNS Chief Development Officer says, "We've seen that in mature markets where people have been online for years and where access is ubiquitous, the Internet has already become a commoditised item that consumers take for granted. However, in rapid growth markets that have seen recent, sustained investment in infrastructure, users are embracing these new channels in much more active ways."

What this study reveals is that consumers in these new emerging markets such as Asia and Latin America, the internet access is often a new experience and is not tied to any legacy uses of the internet. Digital is transformational for them, offering opportunities to engage in new experiences and is therefore an aspirational activity. This leads to consumers that are more engaged, willing to be more active and have a voice in the digital world.  So, as infrastructure and technology improves, consumers in the top tier of rapid growth markets are well positioned to rule the world.

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