Most Brits now spend over 6 hours a week online

The new report from BT, entitled the BT 21st Century Life Index, commissioned Ipsos MORI to survey 2,000 people across Britain to find out how the populations technology and media consumption has changed over the past decade.

The study found that thousands of Brits now spend as many as 30 hours a week online.

The survey indicated that 44% of UK residents now have broadband at home and more than half the population spending more than six hours a week online, compared with only 14% a decade ago.

The number of websites visited has risen dramatically, with 19% of Internet users visiting more than 20 different sites a week.

Almost 50% have booked flights and holidays online, 46% have bought books, 21% have downloaded music and 19% have shopped for groceries.

In addition, 23% have ‘Googled’ themselves and a quarter have used a social networking site.

In terms of mobile usage, 86% of British people use mobile phones as compared with only 23% in 1998.

BlackBerrys and email phone usage is still limited to only 4%. However, the use of PCs and laptops has risen from 35% of the population to 47%.

Nearly 80% of Britons said that they could not live without a telephone; our mobile or landline phones. A further 19% of respondents said they could not live without the Internet.

According to the report, users had begun to look up to the internet for help regarding two of the major problems of recent times - the environment and the credit crunch.

One fifth of Britons seek advice on reducing the amount of energy their technological devices use, while, 23% are making use of the internet to compare prices before making a purchase.

Most of the internet users said that reading someone else’s emails or text messages was unacceptable.

Interestingly, only 30% considered it wrong to use a social networking site to test a spouse’s faithfulness, but only 5% have actually admitted to do the same.

In terms of quality of life, almost 60 per cent those quizzed said they want to spend more time with their families, while 34% of people said they want to spend less time working.

To view the report in full, download the PDF document attached below.