As countries across the globe are pushed into lockdowns amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, online media platforms have witnessed a surge in consumption, according to Kantar’s Covid-19 Barometer report.
“As countries move deeper into the pandemic, so media consumption has increased across all in-home channels,” the report said.
Web browsing has increased by 70 per cent in the later stage of the pandemic,while social media engagement has increased by 61 per cent over normal usage rates, according to the report.
WhatsApp is the social media app experiencing the highest surge in consumption across all social media platforms, according to the report.
“Across all stages of the pandemic, Whatsapp is the social media app experiencing the greatest gains in usage as people look to stay connected,” the report said. Overall, Whatsapp has seen a 40 per cent increase in usage. The platform saw a 27 per cent increase in usage in the early phase of the pandemic, while usage had increased by 41 per cent and 41 per cent across countries in the mid and late phases of the pandemic respectively see The numbers were especially high in more impacted regions. Spain experienced a 76 per cent surge in time spent on WhatsApp.
According to a recently released report by Alex Schultz, VP of Analytics, and Jay Parikh, VP of Engineering at Facebook, the social media giant has seen a major surge in usage particularly in countries that are hit hardest by the virus. Total messaging in these regions has increased by more than 50 per cent over the last month, according to the post. Voice and video calls on Messenger and WhatsApp have more than doubled.
According to Kantar’s study, China experienced a 58 per cent surge in consumption of local social media apps, including Wechat and Weibo.
The increased usage can be owed mainly to people belonging to the 18-34 age group, according to the report. Facebook-owned platforms Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram have all experienced over 40 per cent increase in usage from under 35-year olds, it said.
The report is based on a survey of over 25,000 consumers across 30 markets by Kantar.
Over 4,80,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported worldwide, with countries turning to lockdowns in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
India on Tuesday went into a 21-day nationwide lockdown to flatten the curve, with an increasing number of cases being reported in the country.