Average Canadian internet user?? Blog 1

Am I the average Canadian?

Do I have a plaid article of clothing in my wardrobe?

Do I pepper my conversations with "ehs"?

Do I make about $42,000 annually and am I 39 years old and will I live to be approximately 80.7 years old like this Average Canadian illustration suggests? Because that would be average.

Average would also be surfing the net for approximately 43.5 hours per month as this Globe and Mail article lays out - and visiting about 95.2 different websites per month.

Well, after tracking my Internet usage for a week, I find that I am, much to my chagrin, average indeed -at least on the Internet usage item (although I do look fabulous in plaid). 

With some estimating in the mix, my timed Internet use came to about 14 hours for the week - not including work related tasks. Assuming I follow similar patterns through the month, that puts me in fact a bit over the average. Now, I didn't count the number of websites visited - timing my surfing was hard enough - but I think my habits do closely align with many of the other Canadian Internet habits:

• Almost all my friends and family connect on Facebook, just like 83.1% of Canadians
• I'm one of the  95% of Canadians who have access to broadband services
• If you sat beside me with a stop watch, I probably would come close to about 338 minutes on YouTube each month - just like the average folk in my Canadian age bracket

So I stack up pretty average.

But what am I really doing on line for all that time? What do I have to show for it? What does anyone?

After tracking my usage, I would categorise my surfing into two distinct categories - constructive Internet use and purely frivolous time on line.

Right now I'm job hunting - so much of those 14 hours a week were spent on websites like Workopolis, Monster, Indeed and Kijiji. Constructive, useful and time invested toward a useful goal. 

I did some Internet banking, some research on wedding planning and reception venues, etc etc - again, all tasks that cross something off my to do list. Constructive.

And then there's the time I spend at a red light scrolling through Facebook on my smart phone. Or between commercials IMDBing the cast of Battlestar Galactica. Then there was the time I spent YouTubing silly crap like PEI Salutations (caution- dirty language), and laughing at the latest entries on Dog Shaming. None of these items are raising my IQ, making me money or improving my self worth. I'm really just killing time or entertaining myself. Not constructive.

So is that what the Internet and social media mean to the average Canadian? Making important tasks more efficient and accessible? Or is the Internet just the next logical evolution of how we entertain ourselves? 

I think its a mix of both. That the net has its merits and certainly makes life easier in so many ways. I mean, when was the last time you had to open a phone book or dictionary? But at the same time it also gives us instant access to endless distractions and indulgences - Scrolling through reposted items on Pinterest or posting minute by minute updates of our actions, whereabouts and opinions (Come on...who really cares that you checked in at Sano Sushi?!). 

An average perspective on the Internet and social media? Well, you tell me fellow Canadians.

Jaime