Mobile Connectivity in Emerging Economies
Asked for their overall assessment of the impact of mobile devices and social media platforms on society and their own lives, people in these nations generally are more affirming than not. But within this broadly positive consensus, there are important nuances.
First, at both a personal and societal level publics are generally more likely to say mobile phones have had a mostly good impact than to say the same of social media. A median of 70% of adults across these 11 countries say mobile phones have been a mostly good thing for society, but that share falls to 57% on the question of the impact of social media. Indeed, a median of 27% think social media have been a mostly bad thing for society.
Second, these publics are more likely to say that both mobile phones and social media have been mostly good for them personally than they are to say they have been mostly good for society. As noted above, an 11-country median of 70% say that mobile phones have been mostly good for society. But an even larger share of 82% say mobile phones have been mostly good for them personally. When it comes to social media, users of these sites are generally more likely to proclaim their benefits than non-users. Even among users, people's views of their personal impact tend to be more positive than their views of their societal impact.
These broad themes tend to occur across the full scope of the countries surveyed. But Kenyans and Vietnamese stand out somewhat for their more positive views of the societal impact of both mobile phones and social media. Conversely, relatively large shares of Venezuelans view the societal impact of these technologies as a negative one.
Many worry that mobile phones are a problem for children; it is common for parents to attempt to curtail and surveil their child's screen time
Overall, mobile phone users tend to associate their mobile phones with feelings of freedom. In every country surveyed, a larger share of mobile phone users describe their phone as something that frees them as opposed to something that ties them down.
When it comes to whether their phones help them save time or make them waste time, the largest share of mobile phone users in seven countries describe their phone as something that helps them save time. Still, larger shares of Jordanians and Filipinos describe their phone as something that makes them waste time. And in Lebanon and Mexico, roughly equal shares see their phone as a time saver and time waster.
Across the 11 countries surveyed, mobile phone users fall into two camps about whether their phone is something they don't always need or something they couldn't live without. Kenyans, South Africans, Jordanians, Tunisians and Lebanese who use a mobile phone are more likely to say their phone is something they couldn't live without. But in the six other countries, larger shares say they don't always need their phone.
Both phone type and demographic differences are at the core of these assessments about the value of mobile phones in users' lives. For instance, adults ages 50 and older are more likely than those under 30 to view their phone as a time saver, while younger adults are more likely to view it as a time waster – a relationship that persists in most countries even when accounting for age-related differences in smartphone use. And although mobile phone users tend to see their phone as something that frees them, the prevalence of these attitudes varies by device type. For instance, in most countries, smartphone users are more likely than basic or feature phone users to say their phone is something that ties them down rather than something that frees them.
Have you ever gone one day without a phone? You feel like you're not in this world.MAN, 32, KENYA
Publics in these countries say mobile phones have a beneficial impact on certain aspects of society, but a more negative influence on others
Yet these broader concerns often coexist with perceived benefits to users. For instance, despite widespread concerns that mobile phones might expose people to false or inaccurate information, a sizable majority of mobile phone users (79%) say their own phone has helped their ability to get news and information about important issues. Similarly, a median of 58% of mobile phone users say their devices have helped their ability to communicate face-to-face – even as a median of 48% of adults in these countries say people should be very worried about mobile phones' effects on face-to-face communication.
Other key findings relating to the adoption and use of digital technology in these countries include:
- Majorities in each country own their mobile phone, and sharing a phone with someone else is relatively rare. A median of just 7% of adults in these countries share a mobile phone, ranging from a low of 1% of adults in Vietnam to a high of 17% in Venezuela.
- Smartphone use is higher among younger adults and those with higher education levels.5 Lebanon and Jordan are the only countries in the survey in which a majority of adults ages 50 and older – as well as a majority of those with less than a secondary education – are smartphone users.
- Home computer and tablet access is relatively rare in these countries: A median of 34% have access to either kind of device. And a median of 27% of adults in these countries say they do not have a tablet or computer at home but do have a smartphone, ranging from a low of 18% in Venezuela to a high of 50% in Jordan.
- By a substantial margin, Facebook (used by a median of 62% of adults in these countries) and WhatsApp (used by a median of 47%) are the two most commonly used social media or messaging platforms out of the seven included in the survey. To the extent that adults use only one of these platforms, in every country that platform is either Facebook or WhatsApp.
- Some social media platforms or messaging apps are more popular in some countries than in others. For example, about one-third of Lebanese adults (34%) use the photo-sharing site Instagram. The messaging app Viber is more popular in Lebanon and Tunisia – where about one-in-five adults report using it – than elsewhere, while Jordanians stand out for their use of the photo-messaging app Snapchat (24%).
