e-Society
5 million young recent Internet users access the web daily
Frequency of Internet use: by recent users aged 16 to 24, UK
Over nine out of ten young people (93 per cent) aged 16 to 24 in the UK in 2008 had used the Internet in the three months prior to interview. This was 10 percentage points more than in 2006. Of these recent Internet users just under eight out of ten (77 per cent) had accessed the Internet every day or almost every day, equivalent to 5.0 million users, an increase of 17 percentage points since 2006. The number of young people accessing the Internet at least once a week (but not every day) has decreased from 26 per cent in 2006 to 19 per cent in 2008, while those accessing it once a month or less has fallen to a negligible level.
The most common Internet activity performed by just over nine out of ten (91 per cent) young recent Internet users was sending or receiving emails. Other common activities were: finding information about goods or services (77 per cent), downloading software (55 per cent) and reading or downloading online news or magazines (54 per cent). Seven out of ten (70 per cent) young recent Internet users stated they had purchased goods or services over the Internet at some time, of which 72 per cent had done so in the three months prior to interview. The most popular purchases were films and music.
Reasons for using a social networking site: by young people aged 16 to 19 with a current profile, 2007, UK
In 2007, 63 per cent of young people aged 16 to 19 had a profile on a social networking site compared with 46 per cent of those aged 20 to 24. Over a third (38 per cent) of young people aged 16 to 19 who had a profile on a social networking site visited these sites everyday and nearly a quarter visited every other day or a couple of times a week (24 per cent and 23 per cent respectively).
The most common activity carried out by nearly eight out of ten (79 per cent) young people aged 16 to 19 who had a current profile on social networking sites was to talk to friends or family they see a lot. Talking to friends and family who they rarely saw was the next most common activity performed by 66 per cent of young people. Over half (54 per cent) of all young people with a profile used these sites to look for people they had lost touch with, while nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of young people with a profile used a social networking site to talk to people they didn't know.
Source: Omnibus Survey, Office for National Statistics; Media Literacy Audit, Ofcom
Note: A young recent Internet user is aged 16 to 24 and has used the Internet in the three months prior to interview.
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