We know we live in a changing landscape. Yet, every year out of the fog like a lighthouse beam comes a moment of clarity. That moment is the Ofcom communications market report. Here are some stats to know by heart. It’s 400-pages. We read it so you don’t have to.
By Dan Slee
Research, said astronaut Neil Armstrong, is creating new knowledge so how often do we really do that?
Alone on a sea of change it is easy to feel as though you are bobbing around on the water uncertain and very often alone. Sure, there’s snippets of information out there. Often it can be confusing and only casts light on a small corner.
All this is why as a communications person you need to spend time a few hours with the Ofcom communications market report 2015. I mean it. You do. It tells you far better than anything else the direction of travel in the UK. Once more, it is free.
A week or two back I sat down and read through it all.
It is shaping what I’m doing. It doesn’t have all the answers but it has many and it’s the starting point of everything that you need to do.
Here’s some key stats from the 2015 report.
We live in a connected nation
83 per cent of buildings in the UK can receive superfast broadband.
89 per cent of buildings have coverage of 4G.
Internet use is 20 hours a week – doubled in 10 years.
We live in a smartphone nation
93 per cent of people have a mobile phone.
66 per cent of people have a smartphone.
65 per cent of homes have a laptop.
In 2014, 4G subscribers rose from 2.7 million to 23.6 million.
16 to 24-year-olds would miss their smartphone more than their TV.
50 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds check their phones within five minutes of waking up.
81 per cent of smartphones are used for email.
45 per cent of smartphones are used for transactions.
We are becoming a video nation
72 per cent of people watch short form video
32 per cent of people watch short form video daily or weekly.
47 per cent of internet users said that had used YouTube as a source.
57 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds have used YouTube as a source.
18 per cent of people use their phone to make video.
Young people are a nation of instant messagers
77 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are users.
28 per cent of over 55-year-olds are users.
We are a nation using social media
Overall, 72 per cent of adults have a social media profile.
16 to 24-year-olds 93 per cent have a profile
25 to 34-year-olds 90 per cent have a profile
35 to 44-year-olds 80 per cent have a profile
45 to 54-year-olds 68 per cent have a profile
55 to 64-year-olds 49 per cent have a profile
65 over 28 per cent have a profile
As a nation, Facebook remains most popular
97 per cent of social media users have a Facebook account
40 per cent have Twitter
37 per cent have WhatsApp
35 per cent have Instagram
32 per cent have YouTube
26 per cent have Snapchat
8 per cent have Tumblr
4 per cent have Vine
For 12 to 15-year-olds YouTube is most popular
81 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds use YouTube
72 per cent use Facebook
55 per cent use Instagram
53 per cent use Snapchat
38 per cent use Whats App
How we use Twitter: news and complaints
33 per cent of adults chose news as the most popular topic.
24 per cent of adults said that complaints and frustrations.
Dan Slee is co-founder of comms2point0.