Study on Urban Philippines Internet users by Yahoo-Nielsen

Got this through the email vine. It’s a Yahoo-Nielsen study of Philippine internet users. I publish here a few excerpts and end with a few quick thoughts on the study.

Yahoo-Nielsen Study on Urban Philippines Internet users: Key Highlights

• 28% of Filipinos in National Urban Philippines have accessed the Internet in the past month. 5% access the Internet everyday.
• Filipino internet users are likely to be below 29 years old, single and are better educated.
• Internet use is not restricted just to the big cities like Metro Manila. Other cities are experiencing internet growth. For example, 35% of Filipinos in Cagayan de Oro have accessed the internet in the past month.
• Filipino Internet users are more likely to be opinion leaders and early adopters compared to traditional media consumers. They are likely to be individualistic, trend conscious, willing to pay for quality products and are tech-enthusiasts.
• Internet usage is particularly higher amongst the younger segments. 50% of those below 20 years old have accessed the internet in the past month
• Internet Cafes are an important internet access point. 71% have accessed the internet from internet cafes in the past 3 months. 47% of all internet time are spent in internet cafes. Internet cafes are also a dominant access point fo ruser from the lower socio-economic classes.
• Email, Instant messaging and Search are the most common online activities for Filipino internet users. Yahoo! is the dominant web-based email, instant messaging and search service in the Philippines.
• Social networking is a key online activity. 51% claimed to have visited a social networking site in the past month. 1 in 3 Filipino internet users have a blog. Friendster is the leading social network in the Philippines.

Online Activities

• Used email (63%)
• Used instant messengers (63%)
• Used search (58%)
• Played games online (53%)
• Visited a social networking site (51%)
• Read blogs (42%)
• Down-/uploaded digital photos on photo sharing sites (33%)
• Worked on personal blog (32%)
• Listened to internet radio (28%)
• Down-/uploaded music files online (25%)
• Reads news online on internal portals or other news sites (24%)
• Internet SMS (23%)
• Conducted online banking transactions (3%)
• Purchased products online (3%)

~~~~~ end of statistics excerpt ~~~~~~~

More details, see here: Yahoo Nielsen Study on Urban Philippines Internet users

Ka Edong’s thoughts:

• It’s quite remarkable that internet users are “opinion leaders” in their circle. Once upon a time, it was the person in the barrio who owned a transistor radio who would be an “opinion leader”. That’s why taxi drivers are so “opinionated” — because they’re tuned in to the radio and they echo what they hear.
• “opinion leaders” — I would also say that internet users are very vocal online. One reason is the relative low-risk of giving a strong opinion online (compared to giving a strong opinion in a real-life setting). The relative anonymity of the internet gives them less risk.
• On the other hand, it has become important as well for the internet savvy users to build and protect their online “brand”. Gone are the days when the internet savvy user hides in anonymity. Now with twitter, plurk, facebook, friendster and blogging, people are extending their *real* identities online. Gone are the days of creating “false online identities”.
• Email, IM and search are still leading activities in Internet. No surprise.
• I’m surprised Social networks is down at rank 5 below online gaming (rank 4). I think one reason is that internet cafes are still dominated by the young males with preference for gaming; Contrast that to the young females who are more likely to do social networking.
• I wonder if there are internet cafes that are built to be “female friendly”.
• Internet cafes are truly important for internet access. But hey, we’re changing the game here .
• Photos, read/write blogs — no surprise
• Internet radio — really? 28%? (not really remarkably high or anything).
• And, oh yes, there is an internet activitythat is obviously missing in the list — viewing porn! If that were included in the survey, I would expect it to be among the top 5.

ka edong
internet user since 1996

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