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UKOM (The UK Online Measurement Company) today revealed how the way Britons spend their time online has changed over the last three years. Although Britons spent 65 percent more time online in April 2010 (884 million hours) than they did in April 2007 (536 million hours), the way in which this time has been allocated across different sectors has changed dramatically.
In April 2007, Social Networks & Blogs accounted for less than 9 percent of all UK Internet time (one in every 11 minutes) but in three years the sector has grown to account for almost 23 percent of UK Internet time – the equivalent of one in every four and a half minutes. In other words, if all April 2010 UK Internet Time was condensed into one hour, 13 ½ minutes would be spent on Social Networks & Blogs (see Chart 1).
In absolute terms, the time spent on Social Networks & Blogs between April 2007 and April 2010 has increased by 340 percent, from 40 million hours to 176 million. Only the Coupons/Rewards (516 percent) and Food & Cooking (363 percent) sectors have seen larger relative growth in total time.
The most heavily used sectors, following Social Networks & Blogs, are personal (non-work) Email (7.2 percent share of time / 56 million hours) and Online Games (6.9 percent share / 53 million hours) (see Charts 2a / 2b).
Chart 1: If all April 2010 UK Internet Time was condensed into one hour, how many minutes would be spent on most heavily used sectors
E.g. If all April 2010 UK Internet Time was condensed into one hour, 13 ½ mins would be spent on Social Network/Blog sites
The biggest casualty of the rise in social networking is Instant Messaging (IM) which, three years ago, was the most heavily used sector but has since dropped below Email and Online Games. IM’s share of UK Internet time has fallen from 14 percent to 5 percent – a relative drop of 66 percent (see Chart 2a).
In contrast, personal Email, which many predicted to be another casualty of the social networking phenomenon, has actually increased its share of online time from 6.5 percent to 7.2 percent – a relative rise of 11 percent. In absolute terms, Britons now spend 88 percent more time on Email sites than they did three years ago but 42 percent less time Instant Messaging (see Chart 2b).
The online news sector has also seen strong growth with Britons now spending 212 percent more time on news sites (22 million hours in April 2010) than they did three years ago (7 million hours in April 2007). Consequently, news sites account for 2.8 percent of online time compared to 1.5 percent three years ago – a relative increase in share of 84 percent.
Like Email, the general Portals (such as Yahoo! And MSN) are another area that has prospered despite premature obituaries. Britons are spending 87 percent more time on them than three years ago – 31 million hours in April 2010 compared to 17 million three years ago. Consequently the Portals’ share of online time has increased, relatively, by 10 percent from 3.7 to 4.0 percent.
Speaking on behalf of UKOM, Alex Burmaster says, “Despite the large increase in the amount of time people spend online and the increasing proliferation of websites and online services, one thing has remained constant and that is the bulk of time accounted for by communicating, networking and playing games. These are the pillars on which the Internet as a heavily used medium are built.”
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