PUTRAJAYA, May 3 — Social media is the main interaction medium in Malaysia with 96.5 per cent of individuals used the internet to access their social media websites last year, according to Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
He said the use of social media as a medium of communication continued to be the main choice in Malaysia, with applications mostly used were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp.
“As compared to 2017, which has registered only 86.3 per cent, an increase of 10.2 per cent in 2018 showed that Malaysia is not restricting the use of social media as practised in several other countries,” Mohd Uzir said in a statement here today.
The findings are part of the outcome of the Report on the Use and Access to ICT Access by Individuals and Households 2018 published by the Statistics Department, today.
The report also revealed that within one year, total internet usage for information on goods and services had increased to 83.1 per cent.
Mohd Uzir said accessing the internet to download pictures, movies, videos/music, playing or downloading games were also among the popular options with an increase to 81.7 per cent.
He said banking activity through the internet was also an option with the activity showing an increase of 4.7 percentage points from 2017 to 42.3 per cent.
“This increase is in line with the increasingly busy lifestyle of individuals in Malaysia, and at the same time reducing long queues at the bank’s counter,” he said. — Bernama
