Multitasking helps UK users spend almost half their time using technology

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on August 19, 2010 at 4:43 PM

In the United Kingdom, the average person spends 45 percent of their waking hours watching television, listening to the radio, or using mobile phones, computers or other gadgets, media regulator Ofcom has found in its first study to track how long consumers spend with various media. Increasing use of both smartphones and social networking sites are partly responsible for the high number, Telegraph.co.uk reported today.

For example, two years ago 5.7 million people said they accessed the Internet on their mobile phone, while 13.5 million people said so this year, Ofcom's annual Communications Market Report found. The most popular mobile site was Facebook, at 45 percent; Google came in with 8 percent.

Image: Micht Licht, NotionsCapital.com's flickr photostream

But consumers aren't spending all their time with new media and new digital devices. Traditional media, especially television, are still a "central part" of everyday life, the Telegraph explained. However, multitasking is also increasing, with a growing number of people saying that watch TV or listen to the radio while using the Internet.

Multitasking now accounts for one-fifth of media and communications usage, The Register reported, citing Ofcom's data. The rise is attributed to an increase in smartphone ownership, up 81 percent in May 2010 compared to the same time in 2009 (12.8 million users versus 7.2 million users).

In fact, all that multitasking means that some can fit eight ours of media use into seven hours a day, and younger users, between age 16 and 24, can cram almost five hours of usage into about two hours a day, the Daily Mail noted.

"Younger people have shown the biggest changes in how we use media. But the divide between younger and older people's use of technology is starting to narrow," Ofcom spokesman Peter Phillips said, according to the Daily Mail. People over age 55 are increasingly going online, with more than half having broadband access, which they use mostly for sending and receiving e-mail.

In Northern Ireland, nine out of 10 people have a mobile phone, and 70 percent of homes have broadband - a 6 percent increase compared to last year, the report found, according to the Belfast Telegraph.