New Zealand is a first world country and so it unsurprisingly enjoys many if not all of the luxuries enjoyed in the US. Devices such as phones and televisions are up to the latest models. Although land lines are still used recent studies show that almost all of New Zealand’s residents use a cell phone.Vodafone and Telecom are two of the largest cell phone companies operating in New Zealand. New Zealanders are also prolific texters and many use their cell phones mainly for that express purpose. Texting has also become a problem since New Zealanders are texting on them whilst driving, and in great numbers too. It was reported in a survey that over half of the respondents admitted to sending 1-5 texts while driving on a weekly basis. Almost all of the respondents agreed that texting significantly affects driving abilities and most of those who reported doing it were of the younger age group. I think this kind of addiction to texting and such is very similar to that of the US which shares a similar problems. Internet use is also in very common use in New Zealand. They have experienced a boom in the popularity and use of social networking sites. New Zealanders use such sites as Facebook, Tumblr, Myspace, Twitter, and Bebo. Like texting, there is an apparent trend in the users of such sites which leans heavily towards the younger generation. Only about 30 percent of people above 60 living in New Zealand participate in social media which compared to the US which has a whole 30 percent more seems quite low. Social networking use is so popular in New Zealand that a recent study found that they use it on average more than any other country in the world. This makes sense when you consider that New Zealand is an island country and so it is geographically isolated from other countries. Social networking proves to be a great method for New Zealanders to connect to the rest of the world, especially for the youth. Crimes commiting using such social networking sites as well as the internet in general have also seen a great rise along with its popularity. New Zealand struggles to keep its laws up to date with the ever changing environment of the internet.
Sources
http://activeadventures.com/new-zealand/about/culture
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/telecommunications/page-8
http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/523440/nz_tops_world_social_media_chart/
http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/523440/nz_tops_world_social_media_chart/
Sources
http://activeadventures.com/new-zealand/about/culture
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/telecommunications/page-8
http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/523440/nz_tops_world_social_media_chart/
http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/523440/nz_tops_world_social_media_chart/