Industry Agenda Digital Media and Society Implications in a Hyperconnected Era World Economic Forum Shaping the Future Implications of Digital Media for Society project report Prepared in collaboration with Willis Towers Watson January 2016 © WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, 2016 – All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. REF 181215 Contents Preface 5 Executive Summary We need only look to our own experience – at home, in public spaces and at work – to see that technological 8 Introduction innovation and digitization are fundamentally reshaping our public, private and professional lives. The Fourth Industrial 9 Methodology Revolution is upon us, and the Media, Entertainment and Information (MEI) Industries are at the core of this 10 Section 1: User Behaviour, transformation; they provide the digital tools, services, Preferences and Concerns applications and content we engage with, increasingly anytime and anywhere. 20 Section 2: User Engagement Sarita Nayyar Managing Director 26 Section 3: Impact of Digital Media The emerging digital MEI offerings are the main driver to World Economic smartphone, tablet and other connected device adoption, on Individuals, Organizations and Forum USA as well as to our changing relationship with many other Society elements of daily life, such as health, consumer products and mobility. Around the world, people now spend more 26 Benefits and Opportunities time using laptop computers and smartphones than they 31 Downsides and Risks do in other daily activities, and our “connected time” is on the rise. This is referred to by the World Economic Forum 38 Section 4: Outlook and Call to as hyperconnectivity, and it will continue to affect how we Action interact with one other, how we learn and work, in ways that are both profound and impactful. 42 Project Contributors MEI businesses have greatly benefited from the digital 44 Tables transformation of their industry, but the challenges of content and service congestion and of rapidly evolving 58 Endnotes end-user needs and preferences cannot be ignored. No individual, enterprise or government can afford to be unaware of the implications that the growing use of digital media, entertainment and information content and services (“digital media”) will have on industry and society. MEI enterprises must continue to innovate to keep pace with the emerging media consumer who continually challenges industry business models and offerings. At the same time, we must begin planning for how our increased connection to digital media is and will continue to change the very fabric of our society. With this Digital Media and Society report, the World Economic Forum strives to raise general awareness, catalyse further discussion and stimulate action from its readers. Much can be done by decision-makers in both the public and private sectors to foster the positive implications of increased digital media use and to recognize and address its potentially unfavourable impacts. However, as much as public-private cooperation can improve the lives of citizens, in the context of hyperconnectivity much of this responsibility lies in the hands of the individual. As such, the report has been designed to speak to all types of readers. Whether the reader is a parent, a senior company executive or a government policy-maker, this study provides facts, figures and supporting evidence to all its claims, and includes tangible recommendations to all stakeholders for action. We hope this collective effort by an extensive group of organizations and individuals will stimulate further consideration of, and research into, the implications of ever- increasing digital media use in our lives. Through action, partnership or further research, the ultimate objectives of the World Economic Forum are to ensure that an increasingly connected lifestyle remains an asset to business, individuals and society rather than a liability, and that all stakeholders benefit from our work and insights. Digital Media and Society 3 Executive Summary Innovations in technology, particularly in digital media, Definitions increasingly are changing the way people use Media, Entertainment & Information (MEI) services. More than For the purposes of the Digital Media and Society report, this, the very fabric of daily life is being altered. People digital media is defined as products and services that are interacting and connecting with each other in different come from the media, entertainment and information ways. Their sensibilities and psychologies are changing. industry and its subsectors. It includes digital platforms Blurring boundaries between private and professional lives, (e.g. websites and applications), digitized content and the hunger for immediate information are driving online (e.g. text, audio, video and images) and services (e.g. connection time. Trust in individuals’ relationship with digital information, entertainment and communication) that can media has become an increasingly prominent issue. In some be accessed and consumed through different digital ways, new generations are leading the evolution in changing devices. behaviour, but in others, older generations are “catching up” surprisingly quickly. People’s online behaviours shape their digital identities. Individuals may show different behaviour patterns in The World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future different contexts (e.g. private versus professional), which Implications of Digital Media for Society project may be described as different digital personae. was launched to provide insights on today’s media, entertainment and information consumer, as well as on the broader impact of digital media use on individuals, User behaviour, preferences and concerns organizations and the larger society.1 As part of that project, the Digital Media and Society report aims to highlight People are spending more and more time online. Consider opportunities in digital media that can be encouraged these approximate figures for 2015:2 and nurtured. The report also signals potentially negative – 3 billion internet users consequences that need to be tackled – individuals and – 2 billion active social media users families can address some; others require the attention of – More than 1.6 billion mobile social accounts institutions, from schools to corporations, and states to national governments. While laptops and desktops are still most commonly used, mobile devices are gaining fast on them, causing Digital Media and Society is based on evidence collected a significant change in people’s engagement with digital through desk research, project workshops, expert interviews media. Growth in mobile encounters is particularly strong in and an online survey. Although the scope is large, it is not emerging countries, where consumers are leapfrogging from intended to be comprehensive. Rather, the report presents “no digital use” straight to “mobile use”. a broad picture of developments in digital media and their implications, in order to raise awareness, spark further Increased online connection time appears to be driven discussion and stimulate the MEI industry and policy-makers mainly by work or information seeking, followed by to cooperate in two crucial ways: by cultivating the positive social and entertainment needs, based on findings from implications of digital media use and by addressing, and the five countries surveyed for this report. Digital media then re-dressing, its potentially negative impacts. consumption for private and professional motives is more and more integrated, with individuals using digital media to move seamlessly back and forth between work and personal activities. Digital Media and Society 5 Sharing content has become a very important element of But new consumption patterns, along with the presence of using digital media, with users most likely to share content more players and creators in the market, bring challenges. that entertains, informs or inspires. Digital media also has Consumer trust is at risk because of fundamental made it possible for billions of online media consumers to concerns about: participate in content creation. One-third of respondents – Truthfulness of content, given its volume, the large to the Implications of Digital Media Survey conducted in number of creators and sources, and need for more October 2015 for this report, say they post written content, clarity around filtering mechanisms. pictures or videos on social media sites either daily or a few – Integrity of the company/consumer value exchange. times each week. – Security of personal data and digital identities from cybercrime, given the significance of this information to a The main characteristics of today’s consumption patterns consumer’s professional, financial and social well-being. can be summarized as follows: – Mobile: People now spend an average of two hours User engagement daily on the mobile web, one-third of their total online time, with Millennials and digital media users in emerging Engaging consumers through digital media requires much countries emerging countries leading the mobile more than simply “pushing” marketing content or services revolution.3 The obvious advantages are that mobile at them. Consumers have become savvy at ignoring usage is less dependent on place and time, and devices ubiquitous display advertisements and more and more are are more affordable than laptops/personal computers using ad-blocking