TORONTO – New Canadian research shows that the rise of social networking and video bites has helped drive up Internet usage among all Canadians.
According to leading Toronto-based research firm Solutions Research Group, Canadians are increasingly uploading video to the web (three million say they have) as a form of "familycasting", or sharing their clips of their kids and grandkids with friends and family spread far and wide.
The data in this release come from the Second Quarter 2007 update of Fast Forward, SRG’s ongoing independent, syndicated consumer trend research program which examines broadband, wireless, on-demand TV and mobile entertainment.
Canadians’ use of social media has doubled in six months and women are leading. In May 2007, 46% reported having visited at least one social media site like Facebook and MySpace in the last month, up from only 24% in September 2006.
A higher percentage of women use social media than men (50% of online women vs. 42% of online men), says Fast Forward.
And, Canadians are creating, not just watching, online video. Three million Canadians (about 16% of the Internet population) report having uploaded a short video to a private or a public web page. Nearly a quarter (24%) created or worked on their own page or blog.
With "Familycasting" on the rise, says SRG, the online realm looks to be helping refresh family bonds. Sixty-two percent use instant messaging to keep in touch with family and friends – and among those who post photos, stories or videos on the Internet, over 70% say the content is intended for family as well as friends.
This type of web use has a chain reaction effect, drawing more online and keeping those already online logged on longer. In May 2007, one-in-three online Canadians (34%) agreed with the statement: "I live on the Internet," up five points from September 2006. Thirty-eight percent of those 30-49 agree with the statement in May 2007, up from 28% only six months ago.
However, more social interaction means more file-swapping – and still little regard for copyrights when compared to other crimes.
In the survey, forty-one percent downloaded a music file in the last month in May 2007, up just slightly from 38% in the fall of 2007. Sixteen percent downloaded full-length movies in the past month (up from 11%) while 15% say they downloaded at least one episode of a TV show (up from 10%).
For creators, this is good news/bad news. Good that people are sharing the audio or video. Bad that the creators aren’t getting paid directly.
Only 41% believe downloading "copyrighted movies off the Internet" without payment or authorization is a "very serious offence" – compared to the 77% who believe "taking a DVD from a store without paying" is a very serious offence.
As another point of comparison, Canadians are much more likely to believe that "parking in a fire lane" is a very serious offence (66%).
This is despite the efforts of music and movie industries to educate consumers otherwise.
The results cited are based on a survey of 1,119 online Canadians aged 12 and older in May 2007 and a similar survey consisting of 2,302 interviews in September 2006. SRG funds its own syndicated research.
