Cuencanos prefer to learn by networks

Patricio Arpi is especially informed through Facebook. D. Caceres

Since a smart phone was purchased and hired a data plan, Dayana Carrion has the habit of checking your Facebook wall after rising at dawn.

"It's the first thing I do when I wake up," he says. Only after she leaves the bed and goes to the shower.

Dayana is part of the 51 percent of people in the urban sector of Cuenca usually informed through the social network created by the American Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 and currently has 1.650 million active users, according to the latest registration by the company until April 27 this year.

The fact that 51 percent of cuencanos learns what happens in the city and the world is part of a market study by a student at the School of Social Communication at the University of Azuay for her thesis through a local consultant. The research is called Reading habits of urban cuencano.

The process is carried out with a survey that was applied in the urban sector of Cuenca, with 279 personal interviews, house by house, and with a margin of error of 5 percent.

The study yielded results on the level of closeness between the citizen and print and digital media, social networks, blogs and websites and inquire about reading rates on these platforms.

Among the important findings that the cuencanos have a great closeness and affinity with social networks and especially with Facebook stands out.

The habit has acquired Dayana Carrión to revise its notifications and messages as they wake up in the morning exemplified. She says that at dawn, "first of all", and almost automatically, grab the phone on the night table to check notifications and messages and "after about five minutes reviewing publications is more".

"In that, I almost always find the most important news of the day, so I need not review other media".

 Information media

According to the survey, 77 percent of the urban population of Cuenca, eight out of ten people, has a Facebook account. 75 percent of respondents considered an information channel in addition to a social network, and 48 percent say they have read a story in this platform on the last day.

 digital newspapers

Access digital newspapers, however, is not so common compared to Facebook, then to see how often they visit these pages, 38 percent, four out of ten respondents, was unable to give an answer, 20 percent responded never, 13 percent every day and 7 percent every two days.

Does that mean that readers may be accessing online newspapers via Facebook? According Matias Zibell, professor of digital journalism at the University of Azuay, yes.

While it is stressing that his opinion part only from a "perception and experience in classes with students" and not from figures or studies, Zibell states that students follow certain media through social networks and give 'like' to specific pages local, national and international news. "There is a method to access information through social networks and especially from Facebook, which undoubtedly is the big window," he explains.

The relationship of young people with Internet is so strong that they build their identity in the digital world "being in networks, creating a fan page or blog, from where they generate a digital reputation," said the Argentine academic based in the city.

 Media Access

Access to information through Facebook is a question that is given in addition, as nearly half of the people who connect to the social network, 46 percent do so with the intention to chat or communicate and only 10 percent for updates or information. This explains why Dayana Carrion sails and meets the media content only after reviewing their notifications and messages.

The affinity of the cuencanos with social networks is also reflected in the reasons for connecting to the Internet, as 42 percent do so to access these, 14 percent to search for something in Google, 10 percent go to other search engines, while 8 percent to watch videos on Youtube.

 Twitter

Twitter, however, is a network with lower penetration rates in the town of Cuenca, since only 28 percent, three out of ten inhabitants, has opened an account, compared to 72 percent who claims not to have one.

The use of smart phones also encourages the consumption of information through digital platforms such as social networks or media. According to that study, 60 percent of cuencanos has a device of this kind; 41 percent are connected to the Internet in this way every day, 39 percent said that the last time you read a story from your phone was a day ago. (ARO) (I)

Source: http://www.eltiempo.com.ec/noticias-cuenca/188642-cuencanos-prefieren-informarse-por-redes/