Survey says most young Pinoys use Web for gaming, Friendster

By Lawrence Casiraya - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- Gaming and social networking have emerged as primary reasons why Filipinos aged 25 and below use the Internet, according to a recent survey by DigitalFilipino.com.

A survey of 375 respondents, mostly from Metro Manila, also showed that majority (more than 70 percent) of gamers play in Internet cafes even though they have Internet connections at home.

DigitalFilipino.com started its annual Internet user survey in 2002. Almost 90 percent of respondents in this year's survey are aged 25 or below.

In previous surveys, respondents cited research and e-mail as main reasons why they go online. Now, respondents still mention research as the main reason but next comes gaming, entertainment and logging on to social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace.

“Gaming as a reason to go online did not exist before, even in last year's survey," said Jannette Toral who runs DigitalFilipino.com. "Some users even use Friendster as their email platform because all their friends use it as well."

Most of the respondents spend 12 to 24 hours a week surfing the Web. While people spend more time online, monthly spending has gone down to about P350 per month from P1,000 per month in 2002.

This may indicate that most users spend more time playing games or checking on their Friendster profiles at Internet cafes. "This can also mean that Internet fees have gone down," Toral said.