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AUT: World Internet Project December 2011
The third World Internet Project New Zealand survey was conducted in July–August 2011. The sample of 1255 New Zealanders were asked about their usage of and attitudes to the Internet. The latest findings are compared with the 2007 and 2009 surveys and the significant trends presented.
Use of the Internet in New Zealand has continued to rise, reaching 86% in 2011, up from 79% in 2007 and 83% in 2009. The remnant of the digital divide persists, with most of those still not online aged over 60 or in a low-income household, or both.
Broadband has also continued to spread. With 91% of users on broadband in 2011, the trajectory from 67% in 2007 to 84% in 2009 has continued but eased as it approaches saturation, bringing New Zealand close to other comparable countries on an important measure where it once lagged. The divide as focused in broadband access has reduced in the past four years. Older New Zealanders are now catching up with younger, and rural residents with urban.
Usage of smartphones and other handheld wireless devices has grown apace, from 7% of Internet users in the 2007 sample, to 18% in 2009 and 27% in 2011. This is clearly a strong trend that will continue into the future.
A majority of Internet usage has now shifted out of the back rooms of the home and into the open, communal spaces. 54% of Internet users now go online mostly from a communal space in their home, up by half on the 36% of 2007. Using the Internet in communal spaces is a sign of growing Internet mobility through wireless access, and of the increasing embeddedness of the Internet in everyday home life. More and more New Zealanders (58%) also affirm the overall importance of the Internet to their daily lives, with younger, more wealthy and urban dwellers leading.
The same demographic pattern holds for the Internet as a source of information. An increasing majority of New Zealanders rate the Internet as important for information (69% in 2011, up from 62% in 2007), while newspapers are losing influence. Over 40% of Internet users in New Zealand now look online for news every day, up from 33% in 2007. Over 20% check facts online daily, and over 10% look for word definitions every day. Nearly 60% of Internet users surf the web every day, and about half access or download music or videos at least occasionally. People are becoming less sceptical about the reliability of information on the Internet. For New Zealanders aged 30-59, the drop in scepticism is significant, down from 18% in 2007 to 6% in 2011.
Social network site membership is up by a third since 2009 to 64% of Internet users, almost all on Facebook. SNS membership is highly stratified by age, attracting 87% of under-30s but only 34% of over-60s, although over-30s are providing continued growth. Higher household income and urban residence also promote SNS use. Over a quarter of Internet users have made new friends online, and half of those have gone on to meet them in person.
Online phone calling (through Skype, for example) has nearly doubled since 2007, with 42% of users now making or receiving calls online. Texting remains the preferred medium of communication for younger people (79% at least weekly), somewhat at the expense of phone calls (65% doing this weekly). More and more older people are coming on to email (46% emailing at least weekly) as younger people move away from it (54% in 2007, now 40% emailing weekly).
The use of the Internet for business transactions has grown markedly, especially for paying bills (65% of users) and banking (73%). Paying public charges such as taxes and licences has nearly doubled to 38% since 2007.
