Research from Sky Broadband shows how internet use habits are changing in Ireland.
The average person in Ireland spends two hours a day on social media, according to research conducted by Sky Broadband, which has just launched its fastest ever broadband service, Sky Fibre Ultra.
While the average time spent daily on social media may be two hours, the majority of respondents in Meath, Westmeath and Wexford were found to spend more than seven hours daily browsing their favourite platforms.
Continuing a longstanding trend, 37pc of respondents cited Facebook as their platform of choice, followed by WhatsApp and YouTube.
A nation of film fans
Looking at how people spend their downtime online, 52pc of 18- to 34-year-olds prefer to download and watch films and other content on a smart device such as an iPad, with 54pc of overall survey respondents describing themselves as avid boxset fans. The national average of time spent watching films online is 2.6 hours weekly, or a little more than a film per week.
For 46pc of Mayo respondents, seven hours of films weekly is the average, with 28pc of those surveyed in Donegal watching films online for the same amount of time. Donegal also beat the national average for watching films online by 2pc, with 37pc of respondents there downloading films or TV series regularly.
Sensible spenders
The country is also becoming much more comfortable with online shopping, with the average national online spend per month sitting at €102. In Longford and Monaghan, people tend to spend more online; 68pc of respondents in the former spend up to €350 monthly, with 35pc of those in the latter spending the same amount per month.
On a national level, the country has fairly sensible spending habits, with two in five respondents noting groceries and house necessities as the first things they buy when they get paid.
Those who shop online tend to buy clothes and accessories most regularly, followed by plane and concert tickets. According to the research, most Irish people do not need an occasion to prompt them to shop online and only 13pc said they are tempted to spend online every payday.
Ann-Marie MacKay, director of products and marketing at Sky Ireland, said: “We live in a world where people want and expect lightning-fast broadband, which is what our research results have confirmed. According to the research, more and more people of all ages are moving their entertainment and buying habits online.”