The Internet may be a fluid, ever-changing medium, but these qualities do not translate through to its consumption levels.
Internet usage has remained stable on the previous AMPS survey, as was the case in AMPS 2002A over AMPS 2001B. Four week usage is stable at 4.6%, with 1.356-million people logging on. Seven day usage too is stable at 3.5%, with 1.050-million people logging on.
In terms of at home and at work usage, there is also no significant change - at home usage is at 2.4% (697 000), which is slightly down on the last period. At work usage is 1.7% (513 000) of the adult population. One percent, or 305 000, claim to log on "elsewhere".
Top reasons for logging on:
1. As in the last survey, obtaining information remains top (1.068-million people, or 3.6%). Within this category, the top five types of information gathered from the Internet are:
News (1.3%)
Business and financial matters (1%)
Computing and technology (0.8%)
Read a magazine/newspaper (0.7%)
Through chatting on-line (0.7%)2. Sending and receiving emails (stable at 3.6%, or 1.065-million people).
3. Banking (up slightly to 1.3%, or 375 000 people).
4. Online purchasing (76 000 people, 0.3%).
Source: South African Advertising Research Foundation, www.saarf.co.za.
