UK is a nation of social networking obsessives

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 12-Dec-07, 09:05

LONDON - UK adults spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace than their European neighbours, with as many as one in four adults saying they regularly log on to the sites, according to an Ofcom report.

The UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average of 23 times a month.

The analysis is matched by the investment made by advertisers in the UK, where companies spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country. The UK currently spends £33 per person, twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined.

The finding is one of many that shows the UK is ahead of its European counterparts in terms of the latest digital trends.

The report compares the UK with eight European countries as well as Japan, Canada and the US. It was carried out to help determine future policies, provide information to the UK advertising and media industry, and assess where the UK market stands on a global scale.

Ofcom has also researched how internet audiences around the world are broken down by gender. Across all the countries studied the divide is 52% women to 48% men.

In the UK, the split is 50-50, except in the 18-34 age group, where far more women are surfing the net.

Ofcom has suggested this pattern is related to the increasing popularity of social networking sites.

Other findings revealed that Europeans watch less TV than the Americans and Japanese. In the UK, the average is 25.2 hours a week, or 3.5 hours a day. That is less than Italy and Spain but more than Germany and Ireland.

People in the UK also listen to more radio than in any of the other eleven countries surveyed, while the medium is least popular in Japan.

Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive said: "The report shows that convergence, bundling and the move to digital communications is a powerful global phenomenon.

"It's important to understand international comparisons so Ofcom can develop better policies to serve the interests of consumers and citizens in the UK."

Comments

Matthew Kelly - 12/12/2007

So we are a nation of obsessive social networkers - who would have thought? I think I've found a link here - people who sit in front of their computer all day on facebook and myspace, eating snack food - this is why the UK is also associated with "obesity." http://www.mattkelly.typepad.com

Gregory Allan - 12/12/2007

We watch less tv because most of it is re-runs that we've already seen.

ceaser Wood - 12/12/2007

"The finding is one of many that shows the UK is ahead of its European counterparts in terms of the latest digital trends" ...rather tragic really. "Being ahead", in this case, merely means we waste more time on the pursuit of lazy innane pleasure. The rest of Europe will happily follow some distance in our wake.

Chris Ponting - 12/12/2007

Why no comparison to the US? Do they use the internet more or less than us?

Mike Blunt - 12/12/2007

Agree with Derek on this one. I suspect that our European counterparts are getting out and about more. Wonder why radio is so unpopular in Japan?

Mr Cheese - 18/12/2007

uk needs to get out more *poke*

D T - 19/12/2007

How ironic we are commenting on the UK as a nation of social networking obsessives via an online forum. It just goes to show how ubiquitous social networking has become in our daily lives. I agreed with what everyone has said here already. It is a bit sad and tragic we spend more time than any other country on these websites. We will soon lose the ability to interact on a human one-to-one basis if we are not careful.

Mr T - 19/12/2007

i think social networking is quite fun and can be useful considering i sit at a laptop all day. i have met a lot of old friends from school through the good book. some i cant be bothered to speak to but you take the sweet with the sour. its a fine line to be honest, There are some people that just rely on facebook as their main social passage and will send messgaes asking whats going on at the weekend not understanding that not everyone else uses it to the same frequency as them. Just pick up the bloody phone and call if you want to know something sucka!