World Internet Project survey finds 86% of New Zealanders online

The World Internet Project New Zealand has found the use of the Internet in New Zealand continued to rise this year with 86% of New Zealanders online.

The third, bi-annual World Internet Project (WIP) New Zealand surveyed more than 1200 New Zealanders and found that overall levels of Internet use continued to increase, with 86% of New Zealanders online, compared with 79% in 2007 and 83% in 2009.

However 58% of New Zealander felt the Internet was important or very important in their everyday lives, the survey found.

The survey found that 69% of respondents rated the Internet as an important source of information ahead of television, newspapers, radio and other people, with 40% of Internet users looking up the definition of a word every week and 59% surfing the web daily. 

Facebook dominated the social networking landscape, with 96% of those with a membership to a social networking site (64% of Internet users) saying they used Facebook the most often, up from 74% in 2009, WIP NZ found.

Social networking site membership attracted 87% of under-30s but 34% of over 60s, the survey found.

It also found that 72% of Internet users buy things online and 48% said they used the Internet to sell things.

The growth in broadband was a striking change between 2007 and 2011, Auckland University of Technology’s Institute of Culture, Discourse and Communication and WIP director Professor Allan Bell said.

“91 per cent of users now have a broadband connection at home. The trajectory from 67 per cent in 2007 to 84 per cent in 2009 has continued but is now easing as we approach saturation. We are finally bringing New Zealand close to other comparable countries on an important measure where it once lagged.”

The survey found the use of smartphones and other handheld wireless devices had increased in popularity, with usage rising to 27% of Internet users in 2011 compared with 7% in 2007.

The change in where the Internet was used in the home, at 54% of users accessing the Internet mostly from communal areas compared with 36% in 2007, showed the embeddedness of the Internet in everyday home life, Professor Bell said.

Reasons for not using the Internet varied from not finding it interesting to not feeling confident using the technology, with WIP saying a surprisingly small number of respondents said financial constraints were the main reason.

New Zealand is one of 30 countries involved with the WIP.