There are 4.9 billion active internet users worldwide, representing 62% of the global population. Digital technologies have transformed consumer habits by providing quick access to information, services, and entertainment through mobile devices and apps. This has allowed consumers to make faster decisions and complete tasks more efficiently. The use of technologies has increased over time, with internet speeds doubling globally between 2020-2023 and mobile device ownership growing significantly. Primary information searching occurs on search engines like Google due to their ease and speed. Online shopping and video consumption have also risen substantially, expanding consumers' access to products, services, and media.

1. USE OF TECHNOLOGIES AND
ITS IMPACT ON OUR LIVES
BY UGNE TALALAITE

2. INTRODUCTION
Digital technology has
transformed consumer habits
by the use of mobile devices,
apps, machine learning,
automation and much more. It
allows consumers to get what
they want almost immediately
because of how much the
technology has advanced over
the years.
Consumers make decisions
faster than ever before and find
desired information, services,
entertainment etc. in an even
shorter time frame.

3. ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
There are 4.9 billion active
internet users worldwide. That's
62% of the world's total
population.
However this means over 4
billion people still lack access.
Some of the challenges to the
access are infrastructure
limitations, lack of resources
and/or government policies.
Fig 1. Flynn, J. (2023) [Chart]

4. Internet connectivity continues
to rise in Africa and Middle
East where growth is fastest
among the internet users.
By 2027, more than 3 in 5
people around the world will
be online, driven by growth in
the Middle East, Africa, Asia-
Pacific, and Latin America.
Fig 2. Lis, J. (2023) [Chart]

5. As detailed in the Fig 3.
by Cable.co.uk from
2020 to 2023, the global
mean internet download
speed has doubled from
24.8 Mbps to 46.8 in the
most recent analysis.
The average internet
speed varies significantly
per country.
Fig 3. Statista (2023) [Chart]

6. DIGITAL DEVICES USED BY AUDIENCES
Internet and digital device
usage is an everyday
component of our daily
lives for billions of people.
Mobile device is the most
popular way to access the
internet. Fig.4
Digital devices have helped
consumers save a lot of
time in their personal lives,
by automating tasks and
reducing the necessity for
extensive travel.
Fig 4. Howarth, J. (2023) [Chart]

7. The most popular choice of a
digital device is mobile
phone as seen in Fig 4.
As we can see that 93.4 % of
people access the internet
via a Smart phone. Smart
phones are more accessible
and available for consumers
now than ever before.
Digital devices have made
life easy and comfortable for
consumers by making
communication and travel
faster. Leading to
movements between places
easier, making actions quick
and allowing for easy
interaction.
Fig 4. DataReportal (2024) [picture]

8. SEARCH FOR INFORMATION
The internet has “influenced
which sources of information
consumers pay attention to”
(Paul Herr)
As seen in Fig 5. information
can be found through search
engines, social media and AI
chatbots like ChatGPT.
Primary search of
information happens on
search engines because it’s
the easiest and fastest way
to access information
Fig 5. Iskiev, M. (2023) [graph]

9. Search engines vary
worldwide, and access to
them does to. Consumers
mainly access the internet
through mobile and desktop
devices.
The most popular search
engine being Google Fig 6.
“A large result of Google's
popularity came from their
creation of complex
algorithms which improve
an individual's search
process.” (Sierra)
Fig 6. Radić. D (2023) [Chart]

10. WHAT CONSUMERS BUY ONLINE
As seen in Fig 7. there are over
2.14 billion online shoppers in
the world and 27% of global
population shop online.
Online shopping provides
consumers with unlimited
choices and variety of the
products/services they wish to
purchase.
It is a far more convenient
option to buy online as it
doesn’t require you to drive
around and walk around
multiple shops to get one
specific item.
Consumers are no longer
limited to a few option provided
Fig 7. Fokina, M. (2023) [Picture]

11. ONLINE VIDEO CONSUMPTION
The accessibility and
availability to video content
has increased significantly
overtime, which gave rise to
the consumption of video
content.
It has allowed users to
consume video content that is
catered to their preferences.
92.0% consumers consume
any kind of video content.
The most popular video
format at 48.9% being Music
video Fig 9.
Fig 9. Marino,M. (2023) [picture]

12. In 2019 there were 2157.2
million users. In 2023
2720.0 million users. Fig
10. we can see that
worldwide mobile phone
video viewers only grew
each year.
The technology has
advanced and gave
consumers easy access and
availability to video content
on the go via mobile
devices.
Fig 10. Verna, P (2019) [Graph]

13. CONSUMER TRENDS
In the graph we can see the
steady increase of internet
users over the span of 6
years.
This shows how much the
access and availability to
the internet has improved
over the years, giving a
steady rise to the new
users of the internet.
Fig 11. Statista (2024) [Chart]

14. Average speed of internet
has drastically increased
over the years.
Giving the users more
steady and speedy access
to the internet. Thus
generating more consumers
online.
Fig 12. Statista (2022) [Chart]

15. As seen in Fig 13. mobile
devices became more
readily available to the
majority of consumers.
Mobile devices give access
to the internet on the go
making it very convenient
and easy to use.
Fig 13. Statista (2022) [Chart]

16. The way information is
being searched online
hasn’t changed a lot.
However the quality and the
amount of information
available to consumers has.
The top search engine
worldwide used by the
users has been Google
search.
Fig 14. Statista (2023) [Chart]

17. The average time spent
consuming video content
has increased in 2020-
2022 due to Covid-19.
As consumers weren't
permitted to travel outside
they’re homes let alone
country the rise in video
consumption has
significantly increased, to
either entertain, learn,
teach etc.
Fig 15. Statista (2022) [Graph]

18. SUMMARY
There are 4.9 billion active internet users worldwide. That's 62% of the world's total population. The
Internet has provided consumers access to information which means that consumers are more
knowlegable and can make more informed decision in regards to purchasing,entertainment, education
etc.
Digital devices have allowed for quick access to the internet hence making life easy and comfortable for
consumers by making communication faster and easier, purchasing items/services quicker, unlimited
information accessability, travel faster.
Primary search of information happens on search engines because it’s the easiest and most fastest way
to access information required by the consumers. Making search engines an inseberable part of
consumers daily lives.
Online shopping provides consumers with unlimited choices and variety of the products/services they
wish to purchase. Consumers are no longer limited to select few option available at shopping centers
and bricks an mortar shops in general.
The accessibility and availability to video content has increased significantly overtime, which gave rise to
the consumption of video content. Video content has enriched the lives of consumers because they

19. REFERENCE LIST
• Armstrong, M. and Richter, F. (2023) Infographic: Global internet speeds rising rapidly, Statista Daily Data. Available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/31075/global-average-internet-
download-speed/ (Accessed: 02 January 2024).
• Flynn, J. (2023) How many people use the internet? [2023]: 35 facts about internet usage in America and the world, Zippia. Available at: https://www.zippia.com/advice/how-many-people-use-
the-internet/ (Accessed: 02 August 2023).
• Fokina, M. (2023) Online shopping statistics: Ecommerce trends for 2023, Tidio. Available at: https://www.tidio.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics/ (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Howarth, J. (2024) Internet traffic from mobile devices (Jan 2024), Exploding Topics. Available at: https://explodingtopics.com/blog/mobile-internet-traffic (Accessed: 16 August 2023).
• Iskiev, M. (2023) The way people search the web is changing: 4 stats marketers & seos should know [HubSpot data], HubSpot Blog. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-search-
behaviors-are-changing?fbclid=IwAR2Ze7o15pdPC1QJe4K0S-GQlkTrY_1ShcuPnZdyezC03YmjBKCuCremv1U (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Laricchia, F. (2023) Number of mobile devices worldwide 2020-2025, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/245501/multiple-mobile-device-ownership-worldwide/
(Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Lis, J. (2023) Internet and mobile users update 2023, Insider Intelligence. Available at: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/internet-mobile-users-update-2023 (Accessed: 10 August
2023).
• Marino, M. (no date) Online video consumption statistics [updated Nov 2023], Oberlo. Available at: https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/online-video-consumption-statistics (Accessed: 17 January
2024).
• Radić, D. (2023) Search Engine Statistics 2023: Market share and revenue: Serpwatch, Serpwatch.io. Available at: https://serpwatch.io/blog/search-engine-statistics/ (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Reportal, D. (no date) Digital around the world - datareportal – global digital insights, DataReportal. Available at: https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Slide 30 from the slide show on the website
• Sierra (2023) Think you know why google is the best search engine?: Tower, Tower Marketing. Available at: https://www.towermarketing.net/blog/google-best-search-engine/ (Accessed: 17
January 2024).
• Text citation in slide 9
• Taylor, P. (2023a) Internet users worldwide 2023, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1190263/internet-users-worldwide/ (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• Taylor, P. (2023b) Wi-Fi network speeds worldwide 2023, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1190225/average-mobile-speeds-download-and-upload-global/ (Accessed:
17 January 2024).
• Verna, P. (2019) Mobile phone and smartphone video viewers 2019, Insider Intelligence. Available at: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/apac-dominates-in-mobile-phone-video-
viewership (Accessed: 17 January 2024).
• What is internet? definition, uses, working, advantages and disadvantages (2023) GeeksforGeeks. Available at: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-internet-definition-uses-working-
advantages-and-disadvantages/ (Accessed: 02 November 2023).