EIGHT in 10 people in Spain use social media every day, and are connected for a total of two hours, according to the latest worldwide research into online habits.
Hootsuite and We Are Social have just released their 10th annual report, Digital 2021, which reveals that 4.2 billion people have at least one social media profile kept active – nearly six in 10 of the earth's inhabitants, or about 56.5% of the planet's population.
Unsurprisingly, last year, with its various lockdowns and restrictions on meeting people in person, social media use rose sharply – by 13% around the world, or 490 million new users.
In fact, 15 people register on a social media platform for the first time every second.
Digital 2021, given that it is an annual comparison, may not necessarily reflect a permanent or even long-term change in trends – with many workers temporarily laid off, family and friends unable to see each other and shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities shut or severely restricted, the amount of time a typical human spent in front of a screen of any size will have been much greater on average for 2020 than for 2019.
In Spain, nearly 43 million people use the internet – out of a population of 47 million – and spend an average of six hours and 11 minutes a day online.
A total of 80% use social media daily, for an average of two hours a day.
Across the board, around 45% of people on earth aged between 16 and 64 inclusive use social media for brand information, and around 40% use it for work or work-related factors.
In Spain, the most-used social media platform is WhatsApp, with 89.5% of surfers availing themselves of it daily.
YouTube is very close behind, with 89.3% of those with internet access using it every day.
Facebook is used daily by 79.2% of surfers, and Instagram by 69%.
Applications most often employed in Spain are messaging or chat (96%), social media applications (95%), and video and entertainment (81%).
A total of 57% of internet-users in Spain have made video-calls at least once, 53% have scanned QR codes, and 34% have used their phones to watch TV programmes.
According to Digital 2021, nearly 94% of internet-users go online via their mobile phones, and preferred browsers are Chrome (72%), Safari (14%) and FireFox (5%).
As for content, 95% of Spanish internet-users watch videos online, 62% listen to music via streaming and 46% listen to podcasts.
How does Spain compare with the rest of the world?
Worldwide, 2020 saw people spending an average of six hours and 54 minutes a day on the internet – a total of 4.66 billion, or almost six in 10, people on earth are surfers - of whom 63% use it to search for information, 56% to connect with friends and family, and 55% to keep up to date by browsing news and events.
Also internationally, nearly 91% of internet-users watch videos online, 73% listen to music via streaming platforms, 51% watch video-blogs, 47% listen to the radio online, and 44% listen to podcasts.
Nearly 99% use their phones to access social media, spending a daily average of two hours and 25 minutes on these sites, with Facebook the most-used, followed by YouTube and then WhatsApp.
Men are more active on social media, with 54% of users being male and 46% female.
At present, 5.22 billion people worldwide use a mobile phone and spend an average of four hours and 10 minutes a day on them, of which 92% is via Apps and 8% on internet browsers.
Chat apps, used by 91%, social media apps, by 88%, and online shopping apps, at 69% are the most-employed around the globe.
For video games, 87% use 'any device they can', 75% use their mobile phones, 44% use a computer, and 26% use traditional game consoles.
Online shopping has also reached the overwhelming majority of internet-users: 81% have searched for a product or service with a view to buying, 90% have visited an online shop, and 77% have bought something online, of whom 55% used their phones to do so.
It comes as no shock to find out that in terms of most common online purchases in 2020, spending on travel, accommodation and holidays fell by more than 50%, whilst sales of cosmetics, toiletries and groceries via internet rose the most.
