For most people, food, sleep, and a roof over their heads are the number one necessities of life. Indeed, for most. However, as the international 2011 Connected World Technology survey showed, there are also people who see this differently. The internet is at least as important. This applies to one in three students and young workers.
33% update their Facebook at least 5 times a day
Those statistics are not entirely unexpected, since many of them cannot even work without the internet.
Of course, it is good to make connections via the internet, and especially via social media, but where is the limit?
The majority of this group considers the internet not only so important for work. It is a second social life.
- For example, more than 25% of these people find it more important to keep up on Facebook than to do fun things with friends, listen to music, and go out.
- 33% do this at least 5 times a day, and more than half of the respondents keep nothing to themselves during these “update sessions”; everything is shared.
Television, too, is having to suffer.
The respondents use the internet almost exclusively to obtain information.
- Traditional media are no longer nearly as necessary to acquire the required knowledge, and television in particular is declining in popularity; for less than 1 in 10 students, it is still the most important device.
It may seem exaggerated to say that we can no longer live without the internet. Yet, 55% of the respondents agree with this. Naturally, the internet is constantly creating more possibilities, and as a result, this number will most likely continue to grow.
The internet is becoming, or actually already is: indispensable and cannot be imagined without it in daily life. How important is the internet to you?
This research was conducted among 2.800 students and young professionals from 14 different countries.
