PH takes top spot as heaviest internet users worldwide — report

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 31) — A recently released report revealed Filipinos spend the most amount of time online.

Digital 2019, a report from Hootsuite and We are Social showing people's online behavior around the world, said Filipinos spend an average of 10:02 hours a day on the internet — on any device.

It was followed by Brazil (9:29), Thailand (9:11), Colombia (9:00), and Indonesia (8:36).

Despite this, the Philippines lagged behind when it came to average fixed connection speeds. Singapore was at the top 190.9 mbps, while the country's was just a tenth of that speed — 19.0.

The report also said social media penetration in the Southeast Asian region is at 61 percent, just a few percentage points behind North America and East Asia, which are at the top with 70 percent.

Social media penetration in the country is at 71 percent, above the worldwide average of 45 percent, the report said.

Some 79 million Filipinos aged 13 and older are also on social media, it added.

Social media grew in the country by 13 percent, with more than 9 million users added since January 2018.

Filipinos also spent the most time on social media at four hours and 12 minutes on average per day. It also noted that the country has the highest female ratio on Twitter at 63 percent, and Instagram at 64 percent.

Facebook was the social media platform Filipinos tended to use the most, with over 2 million joining since October 2018.

Overall, there are 76 million internet users in the country, and all of them are on some form of social media. Seventy-two million Filipinos access them via a mobile device.

Change in social media behavior

According to Hootsuite, "In the wake of Cambridge Analytics and the fight against fake news, consumer trust in social media channels plummeted."

It noted however, an increased trust in experts, journalists, and "immediate circles."

We Are Social, meanwhile, saw that "marginalized groups" were emerging as the most influential groups on social media.