MONTREAL – Canadians aged 18-to-34 surpass the total Canadian adult population in their use of the web, mobiles and social networks, according to a survey conducted on behalf of Newad.
The survey polled 2943 Canadians between January 3 – 11, 2011 to help zero in on the habits of young adults. It found that 88% of 18-to-34 year-old Internet users have a Facebook account, (19% higher than the total Canadian adult population), and 27% have a Twitter account, (80% more than the total Canadian adult population). Even LinkedIn is slightly more popular with this age group (13%) than with all adults (11%). While many predicted the rapid expansion of Foursquare, only 3% of 18-to-34 year-olds say they have adopted the two-year-old platform.
Of the respondents who have a Twitter account, half follow at least one brand, (47% compared to 37% for the total adult population), while a quarter (25%) of 18-to-34 year-old social media users microblog daily. And what do they do on Facebook? Main activities include Like-ing (65%) and commenting (65%) on a friend’s status or shared content (photos, videos, articles, etc). Also, Facebook users that are between 18 and 34 years old are very often fans of brands (56% compared to 43% for all adults), with Nike, Coke and Apple are among their favourites. These social media proponents spend 13.8 hours, or the equivalent of one month a year on their favorite platforms – 8.2% of their life.
Young adults are taking center stage on web platforms due to the popularity of smart phones that favour instantaneous expression. The survey found that 43% of 18-to-34 year-olds own a smart phone (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.), a percentage that is 79% higher than the entire adult population (24%). On a daily basis, 18-to-34 year-olds-now use text messaging (58%) as often as their mobile device’s telephone feature (55%), and send an average of 23 texts a day.
While 86% of 18-to-34 year-olds own a mobile phone, 21% own a cell phone and a smart phone. The popularity of free offers is also reflected in the field of mobile applications – 44% of the 18-to-34 year-olds surveyed about their cell phone use say that they downloaded a free application during the week of the study, as opposed to 16% who downloaded an application they had to pay for.
