Differences in usage of social networks
Belgians are more aware of privacy issues
Social networks have become the transforming forces of the world. However, each country has particular preferences when it comes to using these social networks. When it comes to Facebook, Whatsapp or Instagram, there are as many similarities as there are differences in habits between Belgian and Spanish social media users.
MOST USED SOCIAL NETWORK
Undoubtedly, Facebook is presented as one of the magnates in the fight for the search of users. Although, the study contucted by Connected Life finds that the ones that have grown the most in the last year have been Instagram.
Meanwhile, the secondary social network is Snapchat in Belgium and Whatsapp in Spain indistinctly. According to the annual study of Reuters Institute, the number of clients that adhere to Facebook, the winning social network, is increasing more and more in Belgium and Spain. However, its purpose of use is very different depending on each country.
Social curiosity about the lives of others is the main reason for the increasing use of Facebook in Belgium. According to the study of Social Media Use and Experience of the Flemish Population, our respondents mainly log on to Facebook to stay up to date with what friends do (82%), for personal contact (72%) and to look at photos, movies or music shared by other users (61%). Meanwhile, keeping abreast of events represents the main reason for Spanish when using this same platform.
PURPOSE
In addition, both countries do not share the same concerns regarding social networks. On the one hand, the Spanish recognize that what worries them the most is the large number of advertisements that exist on social networks. Therefore, they are the ones who use the most blockages to avoid these advertisements. For this reason, the use of ad blockers has risen to 28% worldwide according to Reuters Institute. The analysis of Connected Life explains that people try to isolate themselves from brand pressure.
On the other hand, the main reasons why our respondents would stop using Facebook relate to privacy concerns (53%) and the amount of useless information (43%). More than half of belgium facebook usersare worried about loss of privacy. Belgians are much more interested and aware of privacy issues in social networks. What worries them the most is maintaining their privacy.
However, following the concerns that users of both countries maintain are dangerous consequences full of contradictions. The Belgians remain reluctant about the issue of privacy. However, few of them are those who have ever stopped to read the terms and conditions of privacy when they create their account. According to the study ibout Flemish popularion, more than half of Facebook users have never read the terms and conditions and privacy policy (53%).
Similarly, Spaniards prefer to be informed through social networks and not pay for news. According to Digital News Report 2017, only 9% of Spanish Internet users pay for digital news. This fact explains how the sale of newspapers in Spain has fallen precipitously. The culture of gratuity remains prevailing in Spain. It should be noted that in Belgium newspaper sales have also fallen but not as drastically as in Spain. Despite the numerous ‘fake news’, the neighbors of the south prefer to choose for the instantaneity of the events.
MOST USED DEVICE
Regarding the type of devices that are most used to connect to social networks, the mobile phone breaks out more strongly in Spain, closely followed by the computer in Belgium.
Mobile phones (47%) exceed the computer for the first time (46%) as the main device for accessing news. The latter prefer to enter social networks through their computer, as well as to read the news. Well, the Belgians pay more than the Spanish for online news.
Therefore, it is the social, economic and cultural factors that determine the purpose that Belgian and Spanish users want to make of it. Facebook represents the union between the two countries that are so different but at the same time so connected.
Official Sources:
-Reuters Institute, University of Oxford (Digital News Report)
