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Instant messengers used by Latvian Internet users
2008-06-26
The popularity of instant messengers in Latvia is significant. According to the results of the Gemius report “Media consumption and attitudes towards online ads” only 26% of Latvian Internet users have never used instant messengers.
Gemius SA did a survey on the Latvian market concerning media consumption and attitudes towards online advertising. Besides the presentation of the way in which Internet users in Latvia use traditional and online media, the report also contains data regarding the popularity of Latvian instant messengers.
As the results indicate, using instant messengers in Latvia is in sixth position, after browsing through e-mails and the Internet, watching TV, listening to the radio or reading the daily press. To the question: “When was the last time you did the following activities?” over half of the respondents said they had chatted on instant messangers a week preceding the research. A total of 11% of the Internet users had talked via instant messengers more than a week before the study, 10% − earlier than within the previous month. Only 26% of the respondents had never used instant messaging applications.
The new Gemius report also finds that instant messaging usage varies widely across different age groups. It is popular especially among younger Internet users who choose to chat via instant messangers more often than the older ones. A total of 72% of the users aged 15-24 used this means of communication a week before the survey. A total of 49% of the respondents aged 25-34 and 41% aged 35+ were talking through instant messengers in the same time period.
Using instant messengers is the most intensive in the evenings (around 8:00-10:00 pm). However, about 15% of the Latvian Internet users who use such applications also chat during the day. Taking into account the usage of instant messangers on weekdays, weekends and holidays, it is worth noticing that the frequency of usage with this means of communication does not differ much.
When it comes to messenger brands most often used in Latvia, Skype was the unquestionable leader in this category. More than nine in ten Latvian Internet users who had ever chatted on instant messengers used Skype. A total of 68% of them used it within the week preceding the study. MSN was in second position with much lower results – 12%. Google Talk gained 10% and ICQ only 5%.
Download the complete version of the press release in the Word format:
For more information contact: Toms Panders, Operations Manager at Gemius Baltic: toms.panders@gemius.lv