My Five: Five things worth sharing from the last week (or so), brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Ashleigh.
1. Over 40% of adults now use more than one device
A recent study conducted by Facebook and GfK revealed that more than 40% of online adults use more than one device day-to-day, more than 60% use two devices every day with almost 25% using three (smartphone, tablet and desktop).
The study also revealed that 40% of online adults start an action on one device and then complete it on another. So they may research something that they see in an advert on TV on their smartphone but then go to their tablet or desktop to complete the purchase.
2. Facebook can spread moods
A study carried out by researchers at the University of California, Yale, and Facebook has revealed that peoples’ moods can spread virally through social media sites such as Facebook.
The researchers analysed posts on Facebook between January 2009 and March 2012 and found that if one person’s mood is affected by rainy weather for example, that can then spread to one or two other people and affect their mood too.
The study showed that positivity spreads quicker, so for every person that posts a positive, happy update on social media another 1.75 positive posts are generated, but only 1.29 for negative posts.
3. The perfect lip-sync rendition of Disney’s Frozen song
Give it a watch – it’s great!
4. “Internet of things” gets an extra £45m in funding
It was announced this week that David Cameron has agreed for an additional £45m to be invested in an “Internet of Things” technology taking the total to £73m.
This “Internet of things” could transform daily life as it will allow electrical devices such as heart monitors and kitchen appliances to communicate through wireless internet connections.
David Cameron spoke at the CeBIT technology trade fair that took place in Hannover and announced the pledge. He said “I see the internet of things as a huge transformative development – a way of boosting productivity, of keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, reducing energy needs, tackling climate change“.
5. The Internet is 25
This week, Wednesday 12th March 2014, saw the 25th birthday of the Internet. It was 25 years ago that Sir Tim Berners-Lee proposed to improve information flows with “a ‘web’ of notes with links between them.”
It was in 1990 that he wrote the first browser and editor and ‘93 when it was announced that the internet would be available to all. See his guest post on the Google blog here.
Also to see what some of the biggest companies’ websites looked like 25 years ago check out econsultancy’s post – it’s fascinating!
