RP boasts youngest online population in Asia -survey

A comprehensive new global survey hints that the Philippines is highly receptive to new media, thanks to the country's youthful online population and its relatively low internet penetration rate. According to the Digital Life study, conducted by insight and consultancy firm TNS, the Philippines has an online population of some 30 million people with an average age of 22.7 years. This number of online consumers has much room for growth, as it represents just 29.7 percent of the country's entire population of some 99.9 million people. Also according to the survey, social networking ranked as the most important online activity for Philippine respondents (43 percent), followed by emailing (36 percent), gaming (24 percent), and knowledge and planning (19 percent). Average Pinoy has 171 friends Not surprisingly, given Filipinos' keen interest in social networking, the average Pinoy has 171 friends in their network. This is only slightly lower than the US average of 178, according to the same study. In terms of lifestyles, the Digital Life study found 83 percent of the Philippines' online consumers to be "aspirers": people who are "very new to the Internet" and whose online access is "via mobile and internet cafes but mostly from home." Aspirers are also said to be "not doing a great deal online but (are) desperate to do more of everything, especially from a mobile device." RP's dynamic young online consumers The published survey results suggest that the Philippines has a dynamic young population of online consumers who are receptive to emerging and upcoming developments in social media.

Following closely on the Philippines' heels is Indonesia, whose online population of 30 million has an average age of 27.9 years. A full 70 percent of online Indonesians ranked social networking as their most important online activity, with the average Indonesian having 198 friends in their social network. The country has a penetration rate of 12.3 percent. In contrast, China -which has some 420 million online consumers, the largest population of any country in the world- has an average age of 35.2 years, with emailing ranked as the most important online activity (53 percent) followed by social networking at a distant second (17 percent). The average Chinese has just 67 friends on their social network. 46 countries; 50,000 respondents According to TNS, The Digital Life study combined survey information with passive measurement of actual online behavior (via Clickstream data) to track the online consumption habits of some 50,000 respondents in 46 countries around the world. - GMANews.TV