Thailand is the world leader for time spent on the internet and mobile internet per day, a consequence of higher social media use and the popularity of online video consumption. Thailand ranks in the top 10 for mobile social media penetration and top four for time spent on social media, according to social media management platform Hootsuite and global agency We Are Social.The country ranked eighth globally for number of Facebook users, with Bangkok the city with the most active Facebook accounts.The "Digital 2018 global overview", published in January, said Thais registered the most time on the internet last year at 9.38 hours per day, after the Philippines at 9.29 hours, Brazil (9.14), Indonesia (8.51) and South Africa (8.32).Thais also spend the most time on mobile internet at 4.56 hours, followed by Brazil (4.21), Indonesia (4.17), the Philippines (4.13) and Nigeria (4.05).In terms of mobile social media penetration (active accounts on top social networks in each country per … [Read more...] about Thailand tops internet usage charts
Internet
The Internet just crossed the 4 billion user mark – and it’s propelling e-commerce forward
The internet crossed the 7 billion user mark over the past 12 months, which means that 53% of the world’s population are now connected online.Global social media usage also saw an upswing over the same period, increasing by 13% to reach 3.196 billion users, while mobile social media usage also increased by 14% year-on-year to 2.958 billion usersThese are the latest figures released in a global social media and digital trends report called Digital in 2018 released by social media management platform Hootsuite and global creative agency We Are Social on Jan 30.The report covered 239 countries and territories and using data gathered from government and platform statistics as well as research companies.No surprises here, but mobile is huge in the Asia Pacific with 41% of the population active on social media via their mobile devices, which is a growth of 16% since January 2017.This equates to 231 million new active mobile social users in the region where over 2 billion people are … [Read more...] about The Internet just crossed the 4 billion user mark – and it’s propelling e-commerce forward
Burger King pranked customers to explain net neutrality — here’s what the repeal could really mean for your internet bill
On Wednesday, Burger King released a pseudo-educational prank video that shows what would happen if the company repealed “Whopper neutrality,” the Burger King equivalent of net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission voted in December to reverse net-neutrality regulations adopted in 2015. Net neutrality means internet service providers cannot block, slow, or provide preferential treatment to particular sites and services. Burger King threw its hat into the political ring on Wednesday when the company took a firm stance on net neutrality repeal in a prank video posted to YouTube.The video shows what would happen if the restaurant industry mimicked the potential effects of the FCC’s recent repeal of net neutrality. In the video, unsuspecting customers were alarmed to suddenly find that their usual Whopper sandwich orders would be made at a slower “mbps,” or … [Read more...] about Burger King pranked customers to explain net neutrality — here’s what the repeal could really mean for your internet bill
Lego teams up with Chinese internet giant Tencent
Danish toymaker Lego is teaming up with Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd to jointly develop online games and potentially a social network aimed at Chinese children.Privately-owned Lego has seen a slowdown in sales growth in recent years, but the Chinese market has been a bright spot with sales growing 25-30 per cent in 2016.It is competing with Barbie maker Mattel Inc and Hasbro, the firm behind My Little Pony, for a slice of the $31 billion toys and games market in China.Lego said on Monday the partnership with Tencent, China’s biggest social network and gaming company, aimed to create a safe online environment covering content, platforms, and experiences tailored for Chinese children.“We’ve seen more and more Chinese children engage with the world digitally, and the partnership will bring them safe and imaginative digital LEGO content that also supports their needs of learning, development and entertainment,” Jacob Kragh, head of LEGO in China, said … [Read more...] about Lego teams up with Chinese internet giant Tencent
How a Toronto app is helping Iranians hack internet censorship
A Toronto-app, which thwarts both firewalls and internet censorship, is reporting a 20-fold increase in users in the spans of five days, almost all of the new users hailing from Iran, where internet access has been blocked by the government. Psiphon is a decade-old app invented in the Citizen Lab, a research institution part of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. Typically, it sees 25,000 to 40,000 new installations per day across all mobile platforms (Windows, Android and iOS). But since Dec. 30 — the day Iranian authorities reportedly began to cut off access to the internet, including to social media apps like Telegram and Instagram — to Jan. 3, the average number of installations increased to over 700,000 per day.Data shared from Iran over the app’s network increased almost 5-fold over the same period, with mobile usage increased ten-fold over the same five-day period. … [Read more...] about How a Toronto app is helping Iranians hack internet censorship