I was watching the news earlier and was quite shocked to find out that we are spending around 22 hours and 15 minutes a day on the internet!
It’s a scary thought, that means that 65% of British internet users are spending far more much time that three years ago and it seems that social network are to blame, you know the ones 
The victims of our social network generation are those that use IM (Instant Messaging), three years ago 14% of users used IM and now that has reduced to to 5%.
And though we all spend more time we are still on other sites and it seems that classified sites and auction site are starting to rise, with the amount of people frequenting them and increasing to 4.7% of a users usage on the internet. Gaming is still quite popular with internet users and I suppose with broadband speeds slowly increasing, these will probably get more over time as well.
Reading about the news online has also had an increase with 2.8% compared to three years ago where these site had around 1.5%
People spend more time on news sites than they do on adult content, the survey shows.
“It is a bit of a digital myth that everyone online visits adult sites,” said Mr Burmaster.
“We divide the internet into 85 different sections so the fact that adult content is in the top 10 shows it is still one of the most heavily used sectors,” he added.
He puts the rise of social networking down to its organic nature.
“It is like an organism, feeding off itself and getting bigger. People are plugging more and more of their lives into it,” he said.
What we are spending our time doing online
- Social networks/blogs – 22.7%
- E-mail – 7.2%
- Games – 6.9%
- Instant Messaging – 4.9%
- Classified/Auctions – 4.7%
- Portals – 4%
- Search – 4%
- Software info/products – 3.4%
- News – 2.8%
- Adult – 2.7%
Source: UKOM
So there we have it, the world of the internet and the social networking lifestyle is really here!
So what’s your point of view on this poll that has been carried out? Share your thoughts with me and my readers
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Twitter: web_design_mu
I have to admit that I have been thinking about this these last weeks. I do spend a lot of time online, first because it is my job but also with blogs and all the information from social media pulling from all sides. This makes that I do spend at least 12 full hours online per day. Is this a good or a bad thing? I don’t know actually because I’m one of the lucky people who can work in their “hobby” field.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
I’ve been spending much more time online since I started blogging, it’s a good job it’s something I enjoy
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Twitter: netchunks
22 hours and 15 minutes? When would that person sleep than. Yes, I agree we spend a lot of time online and the time spent has increased when I started blogging…
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
They are probably on a caffeine binge
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Twitter: techcrunchies
I guess it’s 22 hours in a month..that makes more sense..no matter how much “addicted” we are, there are a lot many of those who think checking emails once in a week is being in regular touch..
Twitter: mcconnellgrp
Interesting post Karen, I think as a culture we are spending the majority of our work day on the computer and if your like me at work, the hours add up. But I definitely don’t pass up a chance to go out for a pint in order to browse the web.
Thanks,
Shawn
Twitter: immhub
While some of us are productive on the net, the majority are busy doing things of no real value. I think it’s a little worrying how large facebook has become but it’s popularity is expected. And things like that just get more popular.
We probably are spending too much on the net but it’s only going up. The internet is becoming a huge part of our lives. My iPhone is always connected to the net so I cannot help browsing when I have the means in my pocket most of the day.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Thanks for stopping by Justin, I agree with you time spent on the net is only going to increase.
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Twitter: davelucas
So what are we supposed to do, Karen? “Get a life?” or something…
but then, there is this incentive (for men) to spend more time online:
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2010/05/rimah-fakih-in-swimsuit.html
Twitter: BlazingMinds
Oh Dave, you cheeky monkey
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Twitter: DennisEdell
Nope, for me email and messenger is about 40% each. lol
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Now that’s a lot of emails
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Twitter: DennisEdell
Forgot to subscribe to comments.
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Twitter: selurus
yup. I guess its more to do with our obsession to always stay connected that causes us to spend so much time online coupled with the ease of internet access via mobiles.
I think we really need to get a grip on ourselves before we are addicted.
Twitter: BlazingMinds
I’ll never be addicted to the net …. Ooo hang on I’ve got a tweet, an IM and a few emails …. AAARRRGGHHH
Twitter: icebluebanana
Fascinating stats. I was about to say that I don’t spend all that much time on the net, but here I am on an average day, and this is probably about hour 16 in front of a computer screen. Not all of that was on the net, but I use it for research most of the day.
I think my problem is that there is too much to know and it all seems to be somewhere on the Internet. I am going to go find the rest now. Thanks!
Have a great day!
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Twitter: jorgensundberg
We definitely spend too much time online, just like in front of the TV or other unproductive things. But hey, that’s all human right!?
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
I think if we are having fun, then we shouldn’t have to worry about it, as long as we throw in a bit of exercise now and again
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Twitter: FamousBloggers
I am not only spending a lot of time daily on the internet, I am dying on the internet
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
It’s all work these days for me too
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Twitter: MurrayLunn
We may be spending a lot of time on the net but compared to TV and radio, nearly everything we do online is either social or has some kind of educational value.
I do spend entirely too much time online (between my work, phone and blogs) but every day I learn something new, it’s like being in a library all day.
We’re always going to be connected now; I accepted this many years ago hehe.
Just to make it so you lose sight of friends and family.
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Twitter: colleenlane
“Are We Spending To Much Time On The Internet?”
Yes!
Not sure about anyone else, but I’m beginning to think I’m on the internet too much. The thought of pulling myself away for a day is disturbing, and it shouldn’t be.
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I know a lot of people who spend HOURS on Facebook. HOW? Why would you spend hours on there looking at photos of people you half know? I just don’t get it. Only 2.7% are online for adult? I thought that’s what the internet was invented for, especially seeing how many celeb tapes there are now!
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Twitter: money_whisper
I know a few persons that are browsing HI5 all day and exactly like you I can’t understand why they are spending so much time looking at other peoples photos…
For those of us who make a living through the internet it probably skews the stats for everyone else – that and the kids these days who hook themselves to an IV with one hand and text with the other. I do foresee the day in the not too distant future when we will be tapped into the internet directly with immediate access whenever we need it. Whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.
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Twitter: moonheart85
I will vote to the first point, yes i spent much time on blog and social network. But I am surprised listening that someone stay online for 22 hours. I daily spent almost 11 to 12 hours on internet and I get tired, so how that person do it?
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I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m definitely spending too much time online. I just feel like this is my main opportunity to meet more people and generate some interest in my field.
To that degree, the combination of “social networking/blogs” is somewhat strange to me. Most bloggers I know work very hard: most people I know on Facebook play Farmville for hours. Not that there’s anything wrong than that, but there’s lots of people online to work, and I wish that was appreciated a bit more.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Farmville! Oh I really hate that thing, it’s annoying how many requests I used to get until I blocked it!
Twitter: joetech
If you ask my wife, I spend WAY too much time online. The Internet is my mistress.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Ah ha, the internet may be your mistress, but, at least your wife knows where you are
I certainly think there is a case for this. The social activities of people with net access has changed how they behave and I think we need to be careful of not falling into the trap of letting it replace what we would otherwise do socially!
Twitter: ladybanana
I do spend a lot of time online, if not on the laptop then on the phone. I’m starting to feel cross at myself but can’t seem to pull myself away easily, there is always something else to check!
Twitter: BlazingMinds
It never seems to end does it? First emails to check, comments to answer, tweets to respond to and the list go on
Twitter: cmygoodies
Very interesting results. Looks like I’ve hit all the major categories today… except for games and…. well wouldn’t you like to know. :0
Just a thought, tho if adult sites get bumped off the list what are spammers going to do with all that time on their hands?
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