UKOM: Social, gaming & news see huge growth in lockdown

We spent 37 more minutes online in April month versus January 2020, according to the latest UKOM data, despite April having one less day. Tracking the online usage of adults aged 18 and over in the UK, the data shows that time spent online surpassed 4 hours a day in April, with growth highest among 18-24 year olds and those aged 55 and over. 

Social networking added more minutes than any other category between January and April 2020. Time spent on social platforms rocketed by 28% (an increase of 14.3 billion minutes) as visitors looked to stay connected during lockdown, spending on average 5 hours more using the services. 

News was another big growth category, with total minutes up by 23% (an increase of 3.9 billion minutes) and average minutes per visitor up by nearly an hour. While the top 10 news properties all experienced uplifts in unique visitors, the data also shows that adults are consuming content from a variety of sources across various news sectors during the pandemic – especially business/finance news, technology news and politics, including US publications.

Meanwhile, gaming platforms saw time online increase by 16% (4.6 billion minutes) between January and April, with overall unique visitors hitting 39.6 million in April. Most of the major gaming properties witnessed increases in visitors, with Twitch seeing unique visitors grow by almost 2 million. Much of this increase occurred between March and April with lockdown keeping people, including students returned home, inside.

You can download the full UKOM report below.