We Are Social 2020: Evermore Connected

Here is the latest news from research conducted on the digital front.

Just like every year We Are Social in collaboration with Hootsuite present the report on the behaviors of digital users worldwide.

Use of the Internet continues to rise – 7% higher compared to 2019. Zuckerberg’s social networks continue to take the top spot. However, the expansion of the network is creating more fear among users about privacy.

Billions of people online

We Are Social presents an overview of the world population, which amounts to 7.75 billion people, 55% of whom live in urban settings.

In fact, there are some areas of the world where not even half of the people have access to the web, such as South Asia and Central Africa. However, globally almost 60% of people are connected.

The Global Digital Report 2020 shows us that the number of new users online is 7 times greater than the increase in the world’s population, which proves that Internet use today is a real necessity for most daily activities.

The time spent daily on the web is 6 hours and 43 minutes divided as follows:

• television (3h 18m)

• social media (2h 24m)

• streaming music (1h 26m)

• gaming (1h 10m)

The inseparable companion and favorite device of most users is the smartphone. Whether it is a top shelf product or a cheaper solution, no one can do without it anymore, given the growing habit of entrusting the mobile phone with the resolution of many everyday functions.

This encourages laziness both mentally and physically; furthermore, it reduces the ability of individuals to communicate with each other in a healthy way, since they now prefer dialogue via messages rather than a face-to-face relationship.

In any case, it is confirmed necessary for companies to develop mobile first web experiences, offering content that fits the smartphone screen perfectly.

We Are Social Media

Social media channels are the main communication tool used today. Let’s find out what the most interesting data and new trends are.

The Global Digital Report 2020 reports that 49% of the population use them, almost entirely via smartphones. The most socially active country is the United Arab Emirates, while Nigeria is in last place.

According to data reported by We Are Social, the most used platform in the world is Facebook, followed by Youtube and Whatsapp. Also in the report is Instagram, confirming the power of the Zuckerberg social media networks.

Use of LinkedIn increased slightly, while Twitter decreased by 3,1%.

We can see that the social media market is quite saturated. The Global Digital Report 2020 shows that we are constantly active and have channels available for all tastes. We have social media networks dedicated to photos, videos, short messages, or channels where you can write very long posts.

But the inventiveness of the human being is always surprising, for better or for worse. Lately we’ve seen that the network Tik Tok, with such a clever name, has become quite popular.

We talked about it extensively in this article, pointing out that behind the playful and entertaining aspect lies a not entirely positive trend, pushing users to demonstrate their ability to overcome some pretty dangerous challenges.

According to We Are Social, we still don’t know if the trend will continue to grow or if it’s just a momentary explosion in popularity.

In any case, it will be interesting for companies to monitor user behavior and trends, so that they can offer their audience content that is perfectly adapted to new and emerging ways of communicating.

A world of sharing. What about privacy?

We talk about everything, argue in comment sections with people we’ve never met, and calmly publish content about our daily lives. But who assures us that our data is really safe?

A new feature in the Global Digital Report 2020 explores this very issue. The propensity to use the Internet for all kinds of activities means that users are more interested in certain issues related to navigation.

The processing of personal data, cookies, and fake news generate concern for the people using the Internet who want more control over their privacy and strongly express the need for reliable sources of information.

We Are Social confirms that digital communication is a fundamental pillar of our age, the fruit of intelligence aimed at simplifying man’s life.

The progressive use of the internet has significantly reduced the time for many daily activities and from the analysis of the Global Digital Report 2020, practicality and playfulness merge together.

In any case we must keep in mind that we are social creatures and the word “social” – used in reference to the social media networks – could save us from the risk of losing the essence of real life and all the emotions it can give us.