Social networking tops Taiwan Internet usage survey

2014-08-25

Social networking is the No. 1 reason for accessing the Internet in Taiwan, according to a survey recently released by Taiwan Network Information Center.

Nearly 96 percent of respondents logged on to the Internet in the past six months, spending an average three hours online per day. More than 64 percent said they do so for social networking, followed by instant messaging at 51.45 percent, web browsing at 44.47 percent and online shopping at 29.67 percent.

The most popular way of accessing the Internet is via PC. A total of 72.89 percent of respondents use this option, followed by handsets at 63.39 percent and notebooks at 31.57 percent. But mobile devices are making up ground, rising from 30.98 percent to 61.81 percent since 2012.

Regarding service expenditure, the average outlay per month for household is NT$787.73 (US$26.28). Mobile users pay NT$533.52 with 65.22 percent of respondents describing the quality as satisfactory.

Over 62 percent of respondents have used their mobile Internet service to download apps. The top three types of apps are social networking, gaming and music and audio effects.

According to TNIC, there are 17.64 million Internet users in Taiwan, or 75.43 percent of the entire population. Around 7 million households are equipped with Internet access, or 84.53 percent of the national total.

First conducted in 2002, the biannual poll was carried out via telephone interviews in May and received valid responses from 3,134 respondents aged 12 and above.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=220898&CtNode=413)