WEB SURVEY: MWEB’s Friendship 2.0 survey revealed social networking as the new way to "talk over the garden fence"

ON average, adult social networkers in South Africa are in their 30's, employed full-time, and describe themselves as sociable and outgoing. This is according to findings in new research commissioned by MWEB. The Friendship 2.0 survey was conducted towards the end of last year among local web users aged 16 years and older, busting the myth that social networking is only done by youngsters. It demonstrates how social networking has gone mainstream.

Social Networking Survey: Findings

Facebook remains the dominant social networking platform with a massive 82% using the service. Behind Facebook comes YouTube (32%), then MXit (29%) and Twitter 28%. The majority of people are using these services to communicate real life activities such as sharing personal news, gossiping and making arrangements to meet socially.

Social networking is changing the format of personal networks dramatically. Many people are now making friends and meeting potential partners online. The impact of social networking is also expanding personal networks with the average user claiming to have around 158 friends they regularly interact with.

“Social networks have really become the garden fence of the 21st century, and are used for very much the same purposes as community meeting places. We are at the end of the early adoption phase, which was dominated by young people, and social networking is now a mainstream activity enjoyed and used by all age groups, particularly those in their thirties.” - Carolyn Holgate, General Manager of MWEB Connect

Social Networking Survey: Users in South Africa

The survey revealed that the average age of Facebook users in South Africa is 33; MySpace is 32; Twitter and YouTube come in at 31; and the youngest in the survey is MXit with an average age of 27. These findings dispel perceptions that social networking is for teenagers only.

Social Networking Survey: Multiple presences

Many online South Africans are also taking up multiple presences using a combination of Facebook, Twitter and MXit accounts. To facilitate integration between these multiple platforms, these users link their various accounts to each other enabling visitors to their Facebook pages to view their Twitter updates and click through to their MySpace profile.

On certain social platforms it’s more a matter of viewing than doing. For example, 75% of MySpace users are only ‘viewers’, moving from one profile to the next. Similarly, 72% of Twitter users are ‘lurkers’, reading what others post. This may be because Twitter is still relatively ‘new’ and users do not have the option of accepting people who would like to follow them. Users could also be more concerned about what their followers may think of their comments.

Facebook and LinkedIn are the most balanced, with 60% of their users classed as “viewers”, who just view other people’s pages, and 40% actively posting their own information regularly.

Social Networking Survey: Facebook Chat

The addition of Facebook’s chat facility/instant messenger tool has seen 56% of South African Facebook users ‘chatting’ to their friends on the site. “When we looked at who they are chatting to, friends and family were tops. Clients, partners and suppliers were the lowest, possibly because most Facebook users prefer not to befriend people they deal with professionally.”

Social Networking Survey: Internet connectivity

The way South African’s are accessing the Internet revealed that ADSL is the connection of choice. “Some 48% of the participants are connecting via ADSL, followed very closely by 3G/HSDPA at 42%, and 35% via their cell phones using 3G,” added Holgate.

Social Networking Survey: Online personality types

The survey results categorised respondents into five different online personality types. These personality types, vary from those who are reluctant to use the Internet and do not have an understanding of what can be done online, through to users who are comfortable using the Internet and indulge in potentially “edgy” behaviour, such as using a pseudonym online or using the Internet to find out what a past partner is doing.

Additional interesting findings include:

• The research revealed that 74% of South Africans going online do so specifically to visit social networking platforms.
• 16% of Facebook users in the survey are on Facebook all day, an additional 58% visit the site once a day or more. This means 74% are accessing Facebook at least once a day.
• The computer desktop remains the most popular way to access Facebook (55%), but 35% are using a combination of their cellphone and computer.
• 62% of Facebook users are updating their status, and 61% are uploading videos or photographs, and searching for someone on the site.
• 16% of participants are using social platforms to promote their business.
• 94% of the participants are using the Internet to access their email followed by 81% using the Internet for work related activities.
• Social networking (74%) rated six on the list of online activities after reading the news (76%), searching for information (76%) and online banking (75%).
• 50% of Facebook users classified themselves as English, 58% are male and 25% have parents on the social platforms.
• 25% of the survey participants have met more friends online than they have in real life.
• 24% have gone on a face-to-face date with someone they have met online.
• 36% have used a pseudonym online.
• 36% have used the Internet to find out what a past partner is doing.
• 37% believe they spend too much time online and need to cut back.
• 49% feel vulnerable to abuse by sharing their personal details online.
• And 21% have experienced a breach of their privacy on the Internet.

TNS Research Surveys conducted the social networking survey with a selection of participants of varying demographics to identify which social networking platforms are popular among South Africans and to probe what they are doing on the various sites. 401 people from TNS Research Surveys’ online panel were interviewed. All respondents in the survey were aged 16 years or older and the data is representative of the South African online population in terms of age, race and gender. The data was weighted to bring age/race/gender into line with AMPS figures.

For more information about this social networking survey, indicative profiles of the five online personality types identified during this survey, and to see how you compare to the average South African using social networking platforms, visit: http://www.mweb.co.za/services/friendship/

- issued on behalf of MWEB

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BLOWING SMOKE: Debunking anti-smoking legislation and some great anti-smoking adverts

ANTI-SMOKING laws have now pervaded every major city in the country, making it illegal to smoke in restaurants, pubs, bars — just about everywhere where there’s a chance that others may inhale second-hand smoke.

Such laws are based on the argument that second-hand smoke causes lung cancer. There are many long-worded, perhaps confusing policies that anti-smoking advocates base this argument on, which appear to be working for them.

I’m usually put off exploring a subject the minute legal documentation presents itself, which I often find difficult to understand. I am also one to believe that it is very easy for people to hide behind vague documentation and for legal experts to put a spin on data — presenting it in a way that serves a particular agenda.

But then I watched a programme (not unlike Mythbusters) that presented all the evidence that anti-smoking advocates base their campaigns on in a very simple and easily digestible manner. So for those who are like me who want to know the truth without having to undergo the sleuth work ourselves, here are the facts behind anti-smoking laws in a nutshell (according to the programme).

The Legal Bit
In 1993 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report which stated that second-hand smoke causes 3 000 deaths in the U.S. annually. This is the main document and media catalyst that anti-smoking advocates use to support their cause and campaigns.

In 1998 the Federal Court in the U.S. discredited the findings of the EPA — stating that there was no link between second-hand smoke and cancer. The report also stated that the EPA had deviated from any scientific procedure and had basically cherry-picked the data.

The same year the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report that was titled in such a way to suggest that second-hand smoke did cause lung cancer. However, the report went on to conclude that there was no association between cancer and second-hand smoke. In other words, it ignored its own findings.

The Statistics
The original statistics that were released regarding second hand-smoke and lung cancer are as follows: 1:80 000 Americans die annually from exposure to second hand-smoke. For those who are not exposed, the figure is 1:100 000.

These figures translate into 12,5 out of every million Americans who are exposed versus 10 out of every million people who are not. According to scientists, this difference is considered as statistically insignificant.

The EPA is equally guilty of inflating its figures, now stating that second-hand smoke kills 50 000 Americans every year (as opposed to the original 3 000). It has created a projected figure, which sounds far scarier than the original and far more likely to be paid any attention.

The Lighter Side
Just for the record, I’m all for anti-smoking laws. I’m all for a cleaner, healthier society and being considerate of one another. However, I’m sure none of us appreciate scare tactics or being lied to. On a lighter note, what we can all appreciate is clever advertising, or perhaps anti-advertising.

Disclaimer: The following advertisements are not aimed to get you or anyone to quit smoking. They are not real images, but rather graphic representations. No animals or people were harmed in the making of these adverts. These adverts will not kill you.

Now that you can take to be true.

Great anti-smoking posters

Cool.

BLESSINGS: A poem by author Stephen Eardley

IT’S so easy to take things for granted when you think that life is not going so swimmingly. Your blog’s not making any cash, your dog’s upset with you for some reason, there was no toilet paper this morning – these can all make you feel like it’s the end of the world.

But then you come across a poem like Blessings by author Stephen Eardley. This humble man reminds us that we have much to be thankful for, and offers a few world stats that allow one to put their own lifestyle into perspective…

Blessings poem by Stephen Eardley

Related Inspiration:

• Desiderata
• The Awakening
• Feel Good Photos
• Inspirational Quotations

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CODING: An Easter egg for geeks

Here’s something quite cool. Open Microsoft Word and type “= rand(200,99)” (without the pull quotes) and hit Enter. What you should get are a bejillion lines of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

Pretty sweet hey? I thought so. Just a little something special to take with you.

There is an urban myth that this is a bug with Word for Windows. A variation of this myth is that Microsoft programmers left it as an ‘Easter Egg’. Some scheme that programmers often leave code in programs, partly to amuse, partly to test, but mainly because most programmers are geeks and game players.

Yet the truth of the matter is that = rand(200,99) is simply a function included by design to demonstrate the maximum parameters of sentences and paragraphs. If you are intellectually gifted, you may have realised that the first number refers to the paragraphs, while the second number refers to the sentences.

Example: = rand (1,5)
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

You can type in any numbers between the brackets or simply type = rand() to get the same effect. = rand() is a well known random function hand for statistics and is used for simulating card games such as blackjack. My spidey senses are telling me that “rand” is somehow short for “random.”

Finally today, the reason why the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is used is because it contains every letter in the English alphabet. You might recall having to write this sentence a lot in your early school-going days during English lessons. In programming it is used to test different fonts and see how letters with tails appear.

Don’t say you didn’t learn anything today!
Happy Friday.

PS: Another Urban Myth is that Excel 1.0 had a complete version of Doom. To find it you had to go through a mind numbing sequence of keystrokes. Cynics say that Microsoft Executables are so large because they are full of this extra Easter Egg code.

** More Happy Friday Posts **

GAMING: The multi-billion dollar gaming industry

WE are currently experiencing an historical era as the gaming industry envelopes us. Doug Lowenstein – the President of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), put this perfectly in words by saying:

"Decades from now, cultural historians will look back at this time and say it is when the definition of entertainment changed forever" - Doug Lowenstein, ESA President

The gaming industry has become one of the largest contributing forces behind the growth and stability of the North American economy. Reaping in $9.5 billion (roughly R76 billion) in 2007 – according to the ESA – the gaming industry is just short of making as much money as the film industry (which made roughly $10.2 billion last year). However, computer and video game software sales have tripled since 1996, and with the rate that new games and technologies are being developed, I'm certain that the gaming industry will far exceed Box Office sales in the very near future.

Future Archaeology

Some other interesting figures produced by the ESA are that 67% of American households play video and computer games – the bulk of which believe that it has brought their families closer together. Furthermore, the majority of the statistical results show that teenagers under the age of 18 get permission from their parents before buying any of the gruesome R18 games. If such innocence is indeed truthful, then is the gaming industry all that bad?

I just wish that South Africa would develop a best-selling game that would 'wow the world'. Surely we have the capability to do so? Yet I suppose our society, which is so charged with being politically correct, would prevent us from developing say a first-person shooter game based on the Anglo-Boer War.

If only that were easier, and our software developers would cease emigrating overseas where they are more appreciated, we could overcome some of our other financial difficulties...

Related post: Too hot to handle: Future gaming & PCs

Links:
Plunkett Research Ltd.
The Entertainment Software Association
Video games don't hurt movie sales if you make good movies

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