Now we’re spending 4 hours a day online

BRITONS are spending more than a quarter of their waking hours online in a lockdown internet binge.

Adults are on the web for a record average of four hours a day as coronavirus has changed the way we work, socialise and relax.

This rises to more than five hours for those aged 18-24. The nation is making twice as many video calls through services such as Zoom, according to a report from media watchdog Ofcom.

One in three now watch more shows online than on traditional TV amid an explosion in the take-up of streaming services from Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney and BritBox.

Significantly, an increasing number of children have an ambition to make a living as a star on YouTube or as a Vlogger – a video blogger. Some 59 per cent of older children who use video sharing apps, such as TikTok, now create their own films.

However, Ofcom warned there is a dark side, with 87 per cent concerned about children using video and social media sites over to adult bullying material. fears The and figures access come from Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report, which found in April, at the height of lockdown, adults spent a daily average of four hours and two minutes online. This was up from just under three and a half hours last September. Ofcom said: ‘ With people seeking new ways to keep connected, informed, entertained and fit during the pandemic, emerging video- sharing and video-calling services are surging in popularity.

TikTok, which allows users to create and share short dance, lip- sync, comedy and talent videos, recorded almost 13million adult visitors in the UK in

April, up from just 5.4million in January. Twitch, a livestreaming site for gamers, saw adult visitors increase from 2.3million to 4.2million.

Ofcom said the proportion of adult Britons making video calls has doubled during lockdown, with more than seven in ten doing so at least weekly.

Houseparty, an app which combines group video calls with games and quizzes, grew from 175,000 adult visitors in January to 4million in April.

But the biggest growth was seen by Zoom, the virtual meeting site, which in the same period grew from 659,000 UK adults to 13million – a rise of almost 2,000 per cent.

Ofcom said video-sharing and livestreaming during the Covid19 pandemic has provided a valued means for Britons to stay in touch, keep informed, and boost their morale.

Ofcom’s director of strategy and research, Yih-Choung Teh, said: ‘Lockdown may leave a lasting digital legacy.

‘Coronavirus has radically changed how we live, work and communicate online, with millions of people using web video services for the first time.’