Who goes online and what are they doing?

The percentage of the population that uses the Internet on a regular basis stays fairly constant until about age 55. Then it begins to decline steadily, from about 67% for the 50-54 age group to about 16% for people over 75.

Internet use is linked to various socio-economic and demographic indicators, such as age, location, marital status and education. For example, the majority of those aged 65 and over (60 per cent) had never accessed the Internet, compared with just 1 per cent of those aged 16 to 24. While 97 per cent of adults educated to degree level had accessed the Internet, 45 per cent without any formal qualifications had done so.

So what are all these people doing on the Internet? The most frequent activity is still email, although it is being challenged for the top spot by online searches. Other frequent uses include searching for a map or driving directions, looking for information on a hobby or interest, checking the weather, and getting news. Online commerce (shopping, banking, paying bills) continues to grow in popularity, but it is not one of the most frequent activities.

How people use the Internet depends to some extent on who they are.

Men are more likely than women to get news, buy travel services, check sports scores, and participate in online auctions.

Women are more likely than men to get health information, use support-group Web sites, and get information about spiritual and religious topics.

Young Internet users (ages 18-29) are more likely than others to do research for school, use instant messaging, listen to music, use dating sites, and share files according to InfoPlease.

30.1 million adults in the UK (60%) accessed the internet every day or almost every day in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Marketers can be confident that virtually all segments of the UK population, except some senior citizens and lower-income households, are using the Web more than ever to research products and services and to keep tabs on brand offerings.

The number of adults who bought or ordered goods or services online within the last 12 months reached 31 million in 2010. These Internet shoppers represented 62 per cent of all adults. The most popular products bought online were clothes and sporting goods, with 52 per cent of Internet shoppers buying these products.

Watching television or listening to the radio over the Internet has been growing in popularity in recent years, with 17.4 million adults doing this in 2010, compared with 6.4 million in 2006.
Social networking was also a popular Internet activity in 2010, with 43 per cent of Internet users posting messages to social networking sites or chat sites, blogs etc. Social networking activities proved to be most popular among 16 to 24-year-olds with 75 per cent posting messages, while 50 per cent of this age group uploaded self created content. However, social networking is not limited to young adults, with 31 per cent of Internet users aged 45 to 54 having used the Internet to post messages, while 28 per cent uploaded content.

There were 19.2 million households with an Internet connection in 2010, representing 73 per cent of households. The region with the highest level of access was London, with 83 per cent, the lowest was the North East, with 59 per cent.

Men are more likely to use the internet to:

• Read the news

• Buy travel services or make reservations

• Check sports scores and gather sports information

• Stay updated on political news

• Participate in online auctions, such as ebay

• Write content to publish online

• Download music

• Buy and sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds

A study done in 2007 also showed that on the average men tend to stay online longer and devote more time to online entertainment and researching technical gadgets.

Women use the internet to:

• Get health information

• Read spiritual and religious information

• Gain access and participate in support group websites

62.3% of women use the internet as their primary source for information on the products they were considering purchasing.

51.7% of the women studied use the internet as the primary way to keep in touch with their families

As you can see men go online to be entertained and hunt down information, where women tend to go online to gather information that assists them in nurturing themselves and those around them. Clearly while both men and women generally spend allotments of time online, gender stereotypes are prevalent in what they do with their time online.

Target audience TBTR

1. Men 40+ (male characters, rebellious, adventure on the high seas, pirates, women as objects of desire)
2. UK Music fans, predominantly male
3. Fans of British Comedy
4. Fans of Richard Curtis films, male and female
5. Fans of previous WT films
6. Younger audiences appealed to by the film's humour and cast

Look at the posters and trailer to see how the film was packaged and targeted:

• British
• Richard Curtis
• WT
• Comedy males
• Various male role models
• Sexy girls
• pop culture of the past (Beatles etc)

Reasons for poor box office?

• Lack of positive role models for female audience
• ensemble cast
• lack of one big star
• Jade goody effect
• unusually good weather during Easter holidays
• limited online or interactive profile
• difficult to get adults into cinemas to see films targeting adults
• Monsters V Aliens box office was huge on the same weekend

A great find . . .

Ok check out this fabulously amazing blog to help you through the prep for your Section B audiences and institutions exam:

click here

and this one for all things media:

click here

The Blogs

Here are the links to the now open blogs.  The competition is over and you're free to spy on each other's blogs as much as you like!

http://latymermedia2010filmindustryclass12c.blogspot.com/2010/12/navigation.html
http://latymermedia2010filmindustryclass12e.blogspot.com/

Homework week 15

Due Tues 4th Jan

1. Sort out any gaps/issues identified in the feedback on your blog, mainly relating to facts/evidence/theory. Do this as soon as possible as the blogs will be used by everybody from now on for essay preparation. You will find a lot of what you need in your folders or in the resources provided, but most importantly you should be using the list of theoretical concepts identified in the original blog posts at the start of the task. Re-read the task instructions and your feedback before proceeding.

2. Fill in the chart that I have given you as preparation for the essay, which you will now write during the first week back in January. Advice: Reference the blogs to help you do a good job of this - no gaps please.

3. Revise this half term's work. Read through all your folder sheets, and learn your theoretical terms, ready to do a good job of your practice essays in January

Deadline: Bring your completed chart to the lesson on Tuesday 4th January. During this lesson we will plan and start the first essay.

You will be writing 2 essays in 2 weeks, so be ready for action!
Miss B x

HOW TO START YOUR CASE STUDY RESPONSE

1. Research/ read all the relevant links/ handouts and see if you can find out the basic facts behind each film -  in other words, the 'what', 'when', 'where', 'who and 'how' questions for each film:

a. What genre of film is it?
b. When was it made/released?
c. Where was it made/released?
d. Who made it/ who distributed it? Who is the target audience?
e. How was it made and released (budget/ production context/ release strategy/marketing campaign)

Use this as the basis for the development of your audiences and institutions case study response

2. Work out an action plan with your partners. Decide how and when you are going to work on your response to ensure you meet the deadline. Work as a team and stick to the arrangements made.

AUDIENCES AND INSTITUTIONS KEY CONCEPTS

In order to answer your case study question for each film, you will need to think about the key concept areas and their relevance/ impact on each stage the film has gone through:

Audiences and Institutions key concepts:

1. The film's target audience, both in the UK and globally (core and secondary markets, audience demographics, typical audience profile)
2. Patterns and trends of audience behaviour (audience tastes and habits in media consumption, pleasures, sharing, uses and gratifications)
3. How the film has been received, both globally and in the UK (box office and other data, reviews and opinions, debates/discussions around the film)
4. The issues raised in the targeting of UK national and local audiences by international or global institutions (specific needs of the UK market, cultural awareness, impact of global distribution)
5. The issues raised by the institutional ownership of each film (production company, production and marketing budgets, UK distributor, licensing deals)
6. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy (production technology, marketing campaign, the website, social networking, viral, cross platform distribution)
7. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exhibition/exchange (3D, CGI/animation, blu-ray, home cinema, multi-channel TV, PVR, digital cinema projection, fast broadband)
8. The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences (competition, changing digital landscapes, technological obsolescence, investment costs, piracy)
9. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences (portability, convenience, levels of control and personalisation, non-linear experiences, interactivity/immersion, changing expectations, impact on traditional media insititutions, rise in short form content, piracy)