1.1 Living online
Increasingly, there seems to be very little that it’s not possible to do online, whether that’s ordering food from online food delivery services such as Food Panda or Grab, booking a holiday or comparing the cost of insurance.
It would be easy to assume that everyone in the UK uses the internet. However, a 2015 report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] suggests that this is not the case.
In Myanmar, back in 2019, the percentage of the population who accessed the internet was less than 0.3%, amounting toa mere 130,000 users. By 2019, Hootsuite reported this number had grown to 243 million internet users: a growing rate of 200 times within nine years. It is expected this number will continue to grow.
The following short activity will get you thinking about internet usage in the UK. Answer the following questions by selecting the closest percentage to what you think the ONS survey found.
Activity 1
a.
99%
b.
69%
c.
39%
d.
19%
The correct answer is c.
c.
In Myanmar, back in 2010, the percentage of the population who had accessed the internet was less than 0.3%, amounting to a mere 130,000 users. By 2019, Hootsuite reported this number had grown to 21 million internet users: a growth rate of 200 times within nine years. It is expected this number will continue to grow.
a.
More than 75%
b.
Between 50% and 75%
c.
Between 10% and 50%
d.
Less than 10%
The correct answer is d.
d.
Less than 10% of people over 50 in Myanmar have used the Internet, according to the UNDP’s Key Findings: Myanmar Living Conditions Survey 2017, page 85.
a.
Electric goods
b.
Clothes
c.
Books
d.
Food or groceries
The correct answer is b.
b.
Nearly half of UK adults (49%) bought clothes online. In total, nearly three quarters (74%) of adults in the UK bought goods or services online. This was up from just over half (53%) in 2008.
The same survey shows that all types of online activities have increased. The largest increase has been downloading newspapers and magazines. Over half of all adults (55%) used the internet to read or download the news, newspapers or magazines in 2014, compared with only 20% of adults in 2007. This has led to many newspapers selling far fewer paper copies and to different ideas about how people will access the news.
Introduction