From prosumers to observers: an emergent trend on the Internet and among Young Ecuadorians. Results from the World Internet Project study, Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction In this article we analyze the data from the Digital 2019 study, prepared by We are Social and Hootsuite, which presents the global trend in the use of Internet and in Ecuador social networks. Next, the prosumer phenomenon, and we conclude with the presentation of the results of the empirical study World Internet Project-WIP-, chapter Ecuador, on the Internet consumption of young Ecuadorians, conducted by the University of Los Hemisferios. For this purpose, the variables referring to the reliability conferred by Internet users on the information that appears on the Internet, the frequency of publishing their own content and sharing other people's content, as well as the perception of online privacy, were measured. The results of the investigation show that young Ecuadorians are Internet users, but prefer not to generate their own content, giving a new phenomenon that represents the abandonment of the figure of the prosumer giving way to the observer profile. The study was conducted taking the years of 2016 and 2017, with a total sample of 605 young Ecuadorians Internet users, with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of +/-5. The results show an Internet use similar to the one that occurs in other countries of the region, and a relatively high national consumption, considering that this study was carried out in the three main cities of the country (Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil), where most of the urban population lives.

Motivations toward Electronic Word-of-Mouth Sending Behavior Regarding Restaurant Experiences in the Millennial Generation

“…According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses [125], approximately 23.2% of the Ecuadorian population is within the Millennial generation, aged between 22 and 36 years. Furthermore, internet penetration and the use of social networks among Ecuadorian Millennials is significant, with more than 80% of Ecuadorians between 18 and 34 years old regularly using social networks [34,[126][127][128].…”

Information and digital literacy competencies in a virtual degree

“…Lo anterior también coincide con otros estudios que muestran que, pese a las posibilidades que ofrece la Web 2.0, y en particular las redes sociales, para el desarrollo de una infoesfera más democrática y participativa donde las personas consumidoras tienen la posibilidad de participar al generar contenido o al menos agregando valor al contenido generado por otros usuarios, diversos estudios muestran que las audiencias continúan conformadas en su mayoría por consumidores y que quienes producen son una minoría (Arribas et al, 2019;Barredo et al, 2018;Chu, 2010).…”

La Influencia del WhatsApp en la Educación Superior de la UNACAR

“…Recientemente, Amaia (Arribas-Urrutia, 2019) publica que existe una penetración de Internet del 66.6% para América Latina y el Caribe para una población de 658'345,820. Por ende, más del 50% cuenta con acceso a Internet, siendo también usuarios de Facebook y de aplicaciones de mensajería instantánea (Arribas-Urritia, Islas-Carmona, & Gutiérrez-Cortés, 2019).…”