Regular readers will know I love a bit of research – part of my obsession with evidence being the basis for decisions we make in communications and marketing.
Sadly with digital and social media, there’s a fair bit of rubbish evidence out there – based on tiny sample sizes extrapolated up and given meaning that just isn’t there.
But I spotted Deloitte have just published their 2013 UK Media Consumer survey which, having read the small print, I can see is based on a decent sample size and worth checking out. It’s the seventh in the series of annual tracker studies.
One insight that stood out for me is the section that talks about a divide in how online users start their web journeys – and a shift from search to social as the starting point for these:

It seems that there is a digital divide in the online population between the over 25s who are “search-first” in their Internet usage and the under 24s, who are “socialfirst”. If this is the case, there are profound implications for the business models of those companies that advertise online

The other area that’s interesting in the digital sphere is the data about the continuing proliferation of device types that consumers are using to access digital content.
I’ve been in communications long enough to remember when designing for the right device meant a choice between aiming for a 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 screen resolution.
But now we need to think about digital experience design that is responsive to a range of device types that is wider than ever – including the challenges of different user contexts and input devices.

You can check out the full report here. For a quick glance, here’s the now compulsory infographic too: