Globally, more than 5.19 billion people now use mobile phones with use numbers up by 124 million (2.4 percent) over the past year.
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Digital in 2020

Based on Digital 2020 Global Overview Report, it shows that digital, mobile, and social media have become a part of everyday life for people all over the world. More than 4.54 billion people now use the internet, an increase of 7 percent (298 million new users) compared to January 2019 while social media users have passed the 3.80 billion mark in January 2020, an increase by more than 9 percent (321 million new users) since this time last year.

In addition, the average internet user now spends 6 hours and 43 minutes online each day. The world’s internet user will spend a cumulative 1.25 billion years online in 2020.

If we allow roughly 8 hours a day for sleep that means we currently spend more than 40 percent of our working lives using the internet.”

(Simon Kemp, CEO of Kepios and Chief Analyst at DataReportal)

Besides that, age plays a significant role in determining level of internet access across these regions: more than half of Africa’s total population is below the age 20 and there are more than 460 million people below the age of 13 across Southern Asia. However gender is also one of a critical factor in determining level of internet users. In particular, women in Southern Asia obviously shows that are three times less likely to use social media today compared to men which gives meaningful insight into broader internet connectivity in the region.

Malaysia Digital Trends 2020

`Internet users in Malaysia`

In January 2020, there were 26.69 million internet users in Malaysia. The number of Malaysia’s internet users increased by 919 thousand (+3.6%) between 2019 and 2020. In addition, internet penetration in Malaysia stood at 83% in January 2020.

`Social Media users in Malaysia`

Based on the Reported Potential Advertising Reach of Selected Social Media Platforms, there were 26.00 million social media users in January 2020. Between April 2019 and January 2020, the number of social media users increased by 1.0 million (+4.1%). Social media penetration in Malaysia stood at 81% in January 2020.

`Mobile connections in Malaysia`

There were about 40.69 million mobile connections in Malaysia in January 2020. Malaysia increased by 175 thousand (+0.4%) between January 2019 and January 2020. In addition, the number of mobile connections in Malaysia in January 2020 was equivalent to 127% of the total population.

ICT Use by Individuals, Malaysia

According to report ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households Survey by Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) stated that in 2018, percentages of individuals in Malaysia aged 15 years and above using Internet was 81.2%, increased by 1.1% compared to 80.1% in 2017. In addition, individuals using computer also increased 0.7% from 69.8% in 2017 to 70.5% in 2018 as well as increased for individuals were using mobile phone from 97.7% in 2017 to 97.9% in 2018.

Generally, the most popular Internet user were participating in social networks (96.5%), finding information about good or services (83.1%), downloading images, videos, movies, videos or music, playing or downloading games (81.7%), downloading software or applications (76.5%) and sending or receiving e-mails (74.8%).

ICT Access by Households, Malaysia

Based on DOSM’s Report above, it shows that percentage of households access to Internet increased 1.3% to 87.0% in 2018 compared to 85.7% in 2017. In addition, percentage of households access to mobile phone also increased 0.1% to 98.2% in 2018 as compared to 98.1% in 2017. However, households access to computer decreased 2.4% from 74.1% in 2017 to 71.7% in 2018.

(Source: ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households Survey, Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018)

Conclusion

The Internet, as all technologies become a significantly part of our everyday lives and changing the way we interact with others. The way technology is growing, it is obvious more and more people are using the internet, social media and mobile connections to grasp its benefits. It has brought a lot of advantages for the society. Obviously, the power social media can enhance life and use it as communication channels.

However, on the other hand it has also affected the society in the negative way. It is all about the usage and getting things done positively by using the power of internet.

Reference:

Digital trends 2020: New Decade, New Milestones