There are many research reports being published about online activity. The New Wave Report is South African based and provides interesting insight in a very user friendly lay out. Here are some highlights:
According to the report, one in three (34%) adults now use the Internet. Two out of three Internet users (66%) speak an African language at home, most of the them have not been educated beyond school level and four out of ten live on less than R1,500 per month.
Almost three quarters of them use their phones to go online though only a minority are entirely dependent on mobiles to get online. Most don’t own computers but use PCs to get Internet access via Internet café’s or other public or shared facilities.
‘The New Wave – who uses the Internet in South Africa, where they use it and what they use it for’ was written by Indra de Lanerolle, Visiting Research Associate at University of Witwatersrand and leader of the South African Network Society Survey. The project is a partner in the World Internet Project – a global network of Internet researchers. Consultant was Dr Mark Orkin, former head of Statistics South Africa.
The report shows Internet use has risen dramatically over the last four years from 15% in 2008 to 34% this year. If the Internet keeps growing at the same rate it has done over the last four years then more than half of adults in South Africa will be Internet users by 2014.
Author, Indra de Lanerolle says: “Our results show there is a New Wave of users who have come online in the last few years. Their presence is something that business, Government, political parties and civil society should be responding to.”
Some of the other key findings in the report include:
· Most new Internet users (52%) first used the Internet on their phones
· Most (54%) of those at school or college are Internet users.
· More people now go online daily (22%) than daily read a newspaper (17%)
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