Indonesians Prefer Internet to Radio or Newspapers

Yahoo and TNS worked together on a new study which revealed that Indonesian internet users are now spending more time on the Internet than they do reading newspapers or listening to the radio — a strong indication that they are starting to abandon traditional media.

The smartphone boom (such as what we see with the Blackberry in the country) and availability of low-cost Internet access on mobiles has definitely contributed to this shift. The now-pervasive use of social media and people’s quick adoptation to new ways of buying things through e-commerce have also played a part.

Television, still in almost every home, remains at the top of the media ranking. Nevertheless people are rushing to switch to Internet TVs, such as recent offerings from IniTV and Bakrie Telecom). The Jakarta Globe explains Yahoo’s methodology as follows:

The study’s results were based on interviews with roughly 1,000 male and female Internet users ranging in age from 15 to 50. The annual study focuses on Indonesia’s urban population in places like Jakarta, Bogor, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar.

With 89 percent of people visiting social networking sites (such as the ever-popular Facebook and Twitter) this is the most popular online activity. Also, according to 61 percent of respondents, they regularly visit news websites too.

As for myself, I find my habits are in line with the study’s findings. With the Internet we can access a great range of music and news very quickly. And we can even view events unfold in real-time on Twitter. Even though there are still loyal radio listeners and readers for print newspapers, they really must prepare for the change.

Let us know how you feel about this in the comment section.