PHL users No. 1 in time spent online and on social —report

Filipino users spend the most time connected to the internet as well as on social media, according to a global study, even as it noted poor internet speed in the country.

Through January 2017, Pinoy netizens spend nearly nine hours a day connected to the internet, with an average of 5 hours and 23 minutes on desktop and an average of 3 hours and 36 minutes per day on mobile, according to a report titled Digital in 2017, by Hootsuite and We Are Social Ltd.

It edged out Brazil, where users browse the internet on desktop for an average of 4 hours and 59 minutes and on mobile for an average of 3 hours and 56 minutes. Thailand is third, averaging 4 hours and 35 minutes of internet on desktop and 4 hours and 14 minutes on mobile.

Most of the time Filipinos spent online were on social media, averaging 4 hours and 17 minutes each day on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Brazil comes next at 3 hours and 43 minutes and followed by Argentina at 3 hours and 32 minutes.

The global average for fixed internet connection speed is at 6.3 mbps, with South Korea having the highest rate at 26.3 mbps and Nigeria the lowest with 3.0 mbps.

Hootsuite is a tool for social media management, while We Are Social Ltd. is a global agency that provides social media marketing and communications services.

According to the report, the Philippines obtained a 27 percent growth in internet users while social media users increased by 25 percent.

The report noted the "exceptional growth" in the digital realm.

"The most exciting of these milestones is that more than half of the world's population now uses the internet, with more than 3.75 billion people online today," said Simon Kemp, author of the report.

The report said global internet users were up 8 percent year-on-year.

The data on mobile social media usage also show a relevant increase, with two-thirds of the population now using mobile phones, it added. —Anna Felicia J. Bajo/JST, GMA News