So what?

It’s a common misconception that Wi-Fi doesn’t necessarily matter because of the proliferation of data plans, but the numbers say otherwise. These statistics matter because they teach us about how and why we communicate. It’s easy to look at a bunch of numbers and get lost in their meaning. While statistics provide the proof we need, they’re only part of the story. 

Did you know that more than half of the digital activity in Canada happens on mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads? ComScore’s Global Mobile Report compared cross-platform trends across the US, UK and Canada. According to the study, 52% of total Canadian digital time is spent using mobile devices. Americans even spend more time than Canadians on mobile-- 61% of their total digital time is spent on mobile devices.

The ratio of time spent on mobile is higher for Canadian millennials from age 18-34, accounting for over 60% of their digital time. In fact, Canadian millennials spend an average of 3.2 hours a day on their mobile devices, which is equivalent to almost a whole day out of a week. Canada also has one of the highest percentages of smartphone pervasiveness when compared to the US and the UK. Another report by ComScore shows that 3 out of 4 Canadians own smartphones. Literally almost all of Canadian millennials have a smartphone (95%!). Even among older Canadians, the prevalence of smartphones is quite high.

Eye-In Media’s Mobile Connections

Since 2003, Eye-In Media has supported 42.6 million internet connections. To put this number in perspective, if all Canadians had 1 electronic device per person, it would account for 17% of the world population. Eye-In connections have been growing exponentially since 2004.

Facebook Profiles

Eye-In Media enables users to connect to Wi-Fi using their social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. This feature gives users the option to voice their feedback through surveys, while at the same time deepening our understanding of users’ internet connection habits. 

Another interesting fact is that social media usage is skewed towards women. Out of all social media connections collected on Eye-In, 57% are female and 43% are male. According to this study, women are the predominant users of social media. Among social media channels, women gravitate toward visual networks, such as Instagram and Pinterest, which see more growth through female users when compared to male users.

Social Media is leading the game

Our famous friendliness as Canadians plays a role in digital media use as well. Canadians favor "social functions" the most when compared to fellow Americans and Brits, according to the same study. A quarter of total digital time spent by Canadians fits in the “social” category.

With the mobile market growing faster than ever, social media has become the dominant activity that mobile devices are used for. 88% of mobile digital time is spent on social media apps, with instant messaging and social apps like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat taking the lead according to data released by the CRTC. 24 million Canadians visited at least one social networking site in 2013 -- accounting for 69% of the nation’s population. More than 40% of millennials use Facebook everyday.

“It’s who we are...We’re meant to interact with others. We’re meant to help each other. It’s just the way we’re made. It’s very important,” says David Mensink in a phone interview with The Globe and Mail.