Digital 2023: Filipinos No. 1 in vlog, video game consumption
In the Philippines, 95.8% of internet users play video games on any device.
Filipinos sure love to play video games. In fact, in the Philippines, 95.8% of internet users play video games on any device, ranking as the No. 1 country, ahead of the global benchmark of 81.9%.
This is according to Digital 2023, the annual report on social media and digital trends worldwide released by social and media intelligence firm Meltwater and socially-led creative agency We Are Social.
The report also stated that Filipinos spend an average of 1 hour and 29 minutes on a game console each day, compared to the global average of 1 hour and 14 minutes.
Apart from video games, the Philippines also ranks No. 1 in terms of vlog consumption, with 55.6% of internet users watching vlogs each week. Compare this with Indonesia, which is a distant second with 33.3%, and the global benchmark of 25.5%.
Additionally, 23.4% of Filipino internet users own some form of cryptocurrency compared to the global benchmark of 11.9%. This makes the Philippines the third-ranked country, after Turkey and Argentina.
Meanwhile, Telenor Asia's recently released Digital Lives Decoded survey shows that respondents in the Philippines are the most enthusiastic about socializing and meeting new friends in the metaverse. The Philippines ranked No. 1, with 55% of respondents saying they would do so. Singapore was the most resistant or skeptical, at just 26%.
Moreover, 76% of male respondents in the Philippines in the Telenor Asia survey are part of the esports and video game streamers audience, compared to an average of 68%.
"The standout finding from these results is how mobile technology has transformed gaming. Mobile access has turned gaming into a mass phenomenon, embedding virtual interactions and virtual worlds into daily life. We see now that gaming is bringing positive impact to real-life communities, reinforcing relationships and making other areas of daily life like work, healthcare or learning more efficient," said Head of Telenor Asia Jørgen C. Arentz Rostrup in a press statement.
Meanwhile, the 465-page Digital 2023 report also shows that social platforms are claiming an ever greater share of the world's search activity. According to the report, 16- to 34-year-olds are now more likely to visit a social network when looking for information about brands than they are to use a search engine (48% vs 45%).
Half of the world's social media users say that they actively visit social platforms to learn more about brands and see their content. While the rise of TikTok search has already caught the attention of the media, the latest data suggests that Instagram is social media users' preferred destination when researching things.
"Brands that want to be competitive today need to stay ahead of trends, searching for and identifying them, in order to understand their impact on any given industry. Consumers continue to spend more and more time on social media, and it’s clear that social will play an even more important role in the customer journey as users turn to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to guide their decision-making process," said Meltwater Chief Strategy Officer Alexandra Saab Bjertnæs.
For his part, We Are Social Group CEO and Co-founder Nathan McDonald said: "Social media's influence on how we live our lives continues to grow. From shopping to connecting, entertaining to searching, it's inextricably linked to our habits both on and offline. It's interesting to see internet use becoming more discerning–while being online is still incredibly important in our everyday lives, people rightly want to make sure it's time well spent. Marketers and creators will have to work even harder to attract and retain people's attention in 2023–it's never been more important to understand online culture in order to reach people in a relevant way."
