Most Israelis spend 12 hours a day in front of screens and 2.4 hours are surfing the web

Another corona year has passed and the patterns of Internet use in Israel continue to surprise:
The screen managed us this year as well - in one day we spend an average of 3.2 hours in front of the TV, 2.4 hours surfing the net, 2.1 gaming, and another 2.8 hours in which we scroll endlessly on social networks. WhatsApp is the undisputed queen - 90% of Israelis over the age of 18 are not willing to give up using the messaging app. At the time of the international glitch on meta servers (formerly Facebook, which owns WhatsApp), 25% of respondents chose not to communicate with other people.
 While most Israelis spend about 12 hours a day in front of the screen, many of them also silence the alerts on WhatsApp and social networks. The parents fought back on the screens and the cyber attacks also reached the youth, Bezeq's annual Internet report reveals.
Surprisingly, this year there have been no significant increases in our daily use of screens, but it is still a fairly long period of time - 12 hours a day on average where we spend in front of some screen.
 91% of respondents purchase products online, although less frequently (70% less) in the past year. 39% went back to shopping in physical stores. This percentage increases among 18-34 year olds and among youth (53%).
Also, the average data consumption per day remained the same (12 GB) and in an average Israeli home, at least 12 smart devices are connected.
The need to be connected always affects us even while we are doing other activities: 77% of respondents indicated that they would check the situation on their social networks at least once during a personal meeting. The most popular social networks among teenagers are Tiktok (54%) and Instagram (71%) - a third of them spend more than five hours a day on these apps. Among the winning adult population is Facebook (81%). 50% admitted that the first thing they do when they get up in the morning is check what is new on social networks, 70% check the mobile immediately upon each message and alert and in total we check the phone every six minutes.
Digital has also become a sworn enemy of many parents. According to the report, 75% of parents try to limit their children's screen time than before. Parents are concerned about the effects of social networks on their children, and 69% of them think these networks are a major factor in making parenting more difficult. It's not just social networks Affecting Youth - 39% of teens encountered cyber hacks during distance learning, when strangers or unwanted elements entered the zoom conversations and exposed the teens to inappropriate content.
At the same time, the year has begun to show buds of returning to routine and moderation in the use of screens. Many sought silence, with 67% of teens indicating that they sometimes mute their WhatsApp alerts, compared to 57% of the adult population who did so. The silence of the alerts also reached the social networks - 26% of the youth, 21% of the adult population. Also, 29% tried to take a time-out from the screens over the weekend.
"In the past year, we are beginning to see very clear buds of change in the way we manage our digital lives," says Keren Leizerowitz, Bezeq's VP of Marketing and Innovation. This year we became sober and began to realize that such a rapid transition could also come at a price. For the first time, we are starting to find out about the use of digital, which is reflected in the cancellation of alerts, the removal of the mobile phone and the limitation of screen time for children. "
On the other hand, parents also realized the hidden potential of the digital world. 80% of parents want their children to serve in computer and cyber units in the military, and 86% of them are confident that the military is the safest ticket their children can get for a successful career.
Like last year, many of us continued to work from home or in a hybrid way, and it seems that the model of working from home has entered the hearts of many Israelis - 84% of us think that the combination of working from home and the office is important. Digital also influenced the type of work sought - 22% of Israelis aged 18-34 took a course in some digital field, and 19% of them changed careers as a result.
This year, too, many Israelis encountered quite a few Pike News: 70% were exposed to more Pike News this year than last year. At the same time, many of us already know how to distinguish between truth and falsehood, with 51% knowing how to differentiate between real information and Pike on social networks, compared to only 35% last year.
This is Bezeq's eighth survey in its series of reports that reviews the usage and behavioral habits of Israelis in the digital age. EDGES.