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.