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Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

theguardian.com

81–90 of 98 posts

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#81
I think there’s a fundamental difference between mobile vs computers. Using a smartphone is almost always consumption. While using a desktop/laptop isn’t necessarily production, it seems much more likely.

If I just had a smartphone and no computer growing up, I wouldn’t have learned how to program. I think it’s vitally important to provide access to computers and internet, not just the internet with smartphones.

I live in Tanzania and I teach at a school my wife founded and when teaching my computer class I asked my students (15-19) what the internet was. And swear to god, most of my students thought the internet was Facebook. Others thought it was Instagram, Google, or Facebook. They had no concept of a website.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#82
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> at what point does personal responsibility take over? Maybe a good approach can be: - When there are millions of people with otherwise functional lives falling for unhealthy behaviour then you blame the carriers. - When there is a very small percentage of the population engaging in that behaviour, then is personal responsibility. For example, personal responsibility cannot be asked for when people lack education.

It's incredible how condescending people here are. Since you see no value in Facebook, those who use it a lot must be uneducated barbarians who are not willing to spend their time on [thing you enjoy]

Economists talk about “revealed preference,” that is, people enjoy the things that they do. But I don’t think that’s actually true. FB, like drugs, short-circuits your brain and just because your reward system is hacked and you spend all day doing it doesn’t mean you actually are getting real value from it.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#83
post #22

This is mostly Facebook since it's zero-rated where most Filipino mobile users are prepaid. Young and old, rich and poor Filipinos are glued to their phones like zombies all day browsing Facebook.

I can confirm that. Having travelled their extensively; their usage is not healthy.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#84
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, but it's not about throttling, it's about subsidies. Regardless, data is about a dollar a gig, which is among the cheapest in the world. The fact is, folks don't want to or more likely, can't afford it, so the subsidized plans are more popular.

Really?? Because I and my companions had a huge problem with data. The only plans we could find were for things like 700M for "general use data", and the remaining for different websites. It was expensive and slow. We weren't in Manilla we were in rural areas mostly.

Yeah, I've been there a lot over the past few years. The problem to me is that there's too many different 'promos' at any given time, much like what you mentioned. But there's always been a 1 gig, 3 day load for 50 pesos from smart and globe.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#85
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot to mention Globe’s broadband. Which is way worse.

I tried their home broadband. Not bad at all, I think it depends on the location. Globe is best on mobile. They're the best but not so good with the promo offerings they give.

I agree. It is just their reputation that Globe broadband still sucks. But their mobile data on my area is top notch.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#87

>most time spent online is done via mobile devices, with the greatest portion of that time spent on social media A lot of people in Phils seem to have a FB-connected mobile plan where they can chat on FB but not see the pictures on there, although you can send them pictures in the chat. And it only seems to connect them to FB, not the whole internet. Just a messenger app I guess. (Most of my close friends are in the…

How would a mobile provider block pictures and other attachments inside a chat system? See a large transfer and kill the connection? Also, in this scenario what would stop users from using domain fronting or encrypted SNI to access other Facebook services?

> Also, in this scenario what would stop users from using domain fronting or encrypted SNI to access other Facebook services?

That any day the ISP can kill those "bugs" making them useless especially for those who brought those in forms of paid VPNs, and if it doesn't, they will "block" you from the service, from not allowing to initiate LTE connection and locked to 3G, to not connect to the cell site at all.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#88
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> at what point does personal responsibility take over? Maybe a good approach can be: - When there are millions of people with otherwise functional lives falling for unhealthy behaviour then you blame the carriers. - When there is a very small percentage of the population engaging in that behaviour, then is personal responsibility. For example, personal responsibility cannot be asked for when people lack education.

This is such an unbelievably condescending opinion. Filipinos are not so uneducated that they lack the ability to assess the quality of their own lives. Facebook didn’t invent self-destructive behaviour (to use a hyperbole), it will always be available for people to indulge in. Personal responsibility will always be the only answer to it, and to imply that Filipinos lack the education to implement it is remarkably of…

The reference to education was an example. I don't think parent implied lack of education in Philippinos

[Edit: spelling]

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#89
post #22

This is mostly Facebook since it's zero-rated where most Filipino mobile users are prepaid. Young and old, rich and poor Filipinos are glued to their phones like zombies all day browsing Facebook.

I don't understand what the ISPs are earning here? We have zero-rated Facebook/WhatsApp plans here in Spain but they are only available for certain, somewhat expensive plans. If Facebook or WhatsApp were zero-rated for cheap plans, nobody would pay for data, including myself.

I would assume the ISP is not out of pocket. Facebook pays them to provide the free data.

Hooking more people on the drug is clearly of benefit to Facebook. Especially if the ISP's customers end up thinking Facebook IS the internet.

Re: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

#90

I'm willing to bet that our traffic situation here contributes heavily to that metric. It's common to see commutes taking more than a couple of hours and doubling that if you're living away from the metro.

Somehow I don't buy that if everyone had fiber speed internet they would all spend 10x less time on Facebook. They would consume 10x more content.
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