The latest Ofcom data records increased lockdown internet usage but not by as much as you think. The bigger question is whether media habits will change long term.

I’m preoccupied at the moment by the question of whether the behaviours that we’ve adopted during lockdown will stick long term.

History shows that we overestimate the impact of crisis or shock events. In psychology it’s called the end of history illusion.

It’s the view that we have experienced significant personal growth up to the present moment and that it won’t continue in the future.

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated a shift in flexible and virtual working, but these were trends that were already well underway.

We’ve missed social interaction and serendipity. Creative and social activities have been particularly challenging.

However, we’re beginning to get data on exactly how life has changed during lockdown. Ofcom released a new report on consumer internet usage last week.

The Ofcom Online Nation report shows that in April 2020, during the height of the coronavirus lockdown, UK adults spent a daily average of four hours and two minutes online.

It’s up on September last year but only by 30 minutes. We’re spending more time video calling, social media and streaming, but then you knew that already.

Internet growth areas

With people looking for new ways to keep connected, informed, entertained, and fit during the pandemic, video-sharing and video-calling services are surging in popularity.

TikTok, which allows users to create and share short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos, reached 12.9 million UK adult visitors in April, up from just 5.4 million in January.

Twitch, the popular live streaming platform for video gamers, saw visitors increase from 2.3 million to 4.2 million adults.

Houseparty, the app which combines group video-calls with games and quizzes, grew from 175,000 adult visitors in January to 4 million in April.

But the biggest growth was seen by Zoom, the virtual meeting platform, which grew from 659,000 users to reach 13 million users over the same period.

Nation of content creators

Sites and apps such as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, which allow people to create, upload and share videos online, are enjoying growing popularity.

Ofcom finds that nine in ten adults, and almost all older children aged 8 to 15, with access to the internet used at least one of these in the last year, with many doing so several times a day.

One third (32%) of online adults now spend more time viewing video-sharing services than broadcast television.

We’re not only watching but creating and broadcasting our own content too. Two in five adults (40%) and 59% of older children who use video-sharing sites and apps now create and upload their own videos, driving an explosion in short-form, user-generated content.

Communication change during the pandemic

In the 12 months to February 2020, more people were sending daily text messages using online messaging platforms (52%), such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, than using SMS (41%) or email (26%).

Daily use of online voice calls (31%) was only slightly lower than mobile calls (38%) but it’s a growing trend.

The pandemic appears to have sped up the adoption of online services to keep in touch. More than seven in ten people in the UK are now making video calls at least weekly, up from 35% pre-lockdown.

The big question is what will be the long-term digital legacy of COVID-19 and lockdown?

Further reading

Dan Slee has also written about the Ofcom report over on his blog: If you’re trying to reach people with COVID-19 messages this research is absolutely essential. Follow this link to check it out.