What are Kiwis really doing on the internet?

Mosh's The New Zealand Facebook and Instagram report breaks down Kiwis' internet usage. Photo / Getty Images

At the start of New Zealand's second level 4 lockdown a TikToker made the proclamation that by the end of it you will fit into one of two categories:

1. You are hitting 10,000 steps every day and have brought an Apple Watch or Fitbit.

2. Your screen time is 15 hours a day.

We aren't health experts here at the NZ Herald, so what group you identify with isn't any of our business, but if you do fit into the latter then you might be interested to hear how the rest of New Zealand is spending their time in the online realm.

Mosh Social Media released their latest New Zealand Facebook and Instagram report and unlike most boring reports your boss pays you to read and analyse, this one is of social interest so you will likely want to read it cover to cover – and it may provide a quick fix to your lockdown-induced boredom.

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Like holiday interruptions, you can blame Covid for the increase of not only time online but people online.

Ninety four per cent of the NZ population is on the web and while it's difficult to know how Covid-related lockdowns have encouraged the online migration, NZ Post says it can account for 170,000 Kiwis shopping online for the first time, as well as 17,000 electronic devices being supplied by the NZ Government to students for remote learning.

As well as the increase in users, Mosh is interested in how Kiwis spend their time online - and they found that our most visited websites last year were Youtube, Facebook, NZ Herald, TradeMe, Reddit and Pornhub.

And throughout the day Kiwis will averagely spend:

- 7 hours online

- 3 hours streaming television

- 58 minutes reading mass media

- 42 minutes playing online games

So, what else can Mosh's New Zealand Facebook and Instagram report tell us?

When it comes to mobile apps and websites, it's more important now than ever before to have one that is easy to use. Out of the 3.97 million Kiwis aged between 16 and 64 using social media, 97 per cent of those are accessing their content through a mobile phone. And while Facebook and Instagram are still favourites for social media users, newcomers like TikTok are gaining popularity.

Facebook is continuing to dominate the social media world with 2.74 billion active users per month and of those active users, the most common age group to use Facebook in New Zealand is 25 – 34 followed closely by those aged 35–44.

25 - 34 years old is the most popular age group to engage with Facebook in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

The average NZ Facebook page has 5067 likes and surprisingly only 2.24 per cent engagement. This number is dropping year-on-year reflecting the importance of paying advertising fees if you want to engage with your followers effectively.

When it comes to New Zealand's favourite Facebook pages it won't be a surprise to some that the All Blacks came out on top alongside 100% Pure New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Les Mills, and NZ Herald.

During lockdown when there isn't much else to do, it's no surprise our screen time has gone up and social media usage is reaching new highs but like true Kiwis we are ones to make the best out of a bad situation so while we may be stuck inside, our increased social media presence results in more opportunities for online businesses and it could be the best time for business owners to learn how to take advantage of this.