WIN International, the world’s leading association in market research and polling, has published the Annual WIN World Survey – WWS 2022 – exploring the views and beliefs of 28,702 respondents in 39 countries across the globe. WIN has released the latest results of the survey to uncover the findings, improvements, or developments, made globally in various areas related to technology, including social media, data misuse and privacy of digital information.
Are social media networks overwhelming our lives?
Across all 39 countries surveyed, respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with the statement ‘social networks overwhelm our life’ on a scale of 1 (do not agree at all) to 10 (completely agree). The most popular response across all countries surveyed was the highest answer of ’10’, with 22% of respondents completely agreeing with the statement. A much smaller percentage, 5.4%, stated they ‘do not agree at all’ that social networks overwhelm our lives.
The countries that feel most overwhelmed by social media are Serbia (52.1%), Croatia (51.4%) and Slovenia (47.1%). On the contrary, the countries that don’t share this feeling are Côte d’Ivoire (23.6%), Turkey (22.3%) and Argentina (15.1%).
Technology as a tool to get organised
Although people might have mixed feelings about social media, it is evident that there is a use for tech in the day to day. 45.3% of respondents globally agree that new technologies help them being better organized in their everyday life. This answer is more prevalent in the 18-24 age group, with 51.5% of respondents completely agreeing, but was still as high as 37.9% in the 65+ demographic.
There’s also a slight difference in how males and females answered the question, with more males believing that technology was a beneficial tool to help them get more organized, with 47.4 % of male respondents completely agreeing with the statement. Females were slightly lower with a global average of 43% completely agreeing.
Decrease in concerns over sharing personal information digitally
In terms of how individuals responded when asked to agree or disagree with the statement ‘I am aware what happens with my personal information after I shared it with a data collector’, this year’s data saw a 2% increase in people agreeing when compared to the 33% of people who agreed in 2021. Furthermore, when asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement ‘I am concerned about sharing my personal information digitally’ there was a decrease from 48% on a global scale in 2021 to 45% in 2022.
However the concern is still high in countries such as Thailand (75%), Brazil (68%) and Kenya (68%), whereas Germany (27%), Pakistan (30%) and Hong Kong (31%) ranked lowest in the ‘completely agree’ category.
Vilma Scarpino, President of WIN International Association, said:
“The results of this year’s WIN World Survey highlight the complex relationship between technology and our everyday lives. While some respondents express concerns about the overwhelming impact of social media, others see technology as a useful tool for getting organised. The survey also reveals shifting attitudes towards data privacy, with more individuals feeling informed about the fate of their personal information. As we continue to navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape, it’s important to remain mindful of its potential impacts on our lives.”