Malaysia’s netizens voted ‘trolling’ – the posting of offensive or provocative comments to elicit angry responses – as the most annoying internet habit. But conversely admit to posting pictures of their Nasi Lemak and sharing online games invites according to a recent survey on the ‘Worst Internet Habits’ commissioned by Telenor Group. Digi is Telenor’s local business unit in Malaysia.
As Malaysia’s use of internet and social media expands so invariably does the rise of annoying internet habits. Today, Malaysians on average spend 4.18 hours online for personal reasons. In an effort to learn more about their customers in their commitment to provide a positive digital future for all, Telenor conducted the internet behavioral survey across Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India. From profanity tolerance levels to selfie approval ratings, more than 400 respondents across the region responded to what they love and loathe most about the net.
Malaysia’s Top Five Most Annoying Internet Habits
According to the Malaysian findings, the top five most annoying things people do on the internet are (1) trolling: 51%; (2) spreading false rumors: 47% (3) using profanity: 39%; (4) sharing inappropriate content: 37%; (5) inviting people to play online games: 17%.
The study was undertaken by Penn Schoen Berland in Singapore and surveyed 401 people across Malaysia (100), India (100), Thailand (101), and Singapore (100). The results reveal that Asia is unified in many aspects; but additionally illustrate unique country-specific differences. For example, net profanity in Malaysia scored a high ‘annoyance’ score of 39%, whereas India and Singapore reported being far less annoyed by virtual world expletives, with only 4% and 7% respectively reporting the behavior to be annoying.
“This survey provided many interesting results and highlighted that Malaysia is unique in the way it interacts with the online sphere, even when compared to our close neighbors. Everyone knows that Malaysians love food so seeing that it was the most common net behavior was no surprise. And despite some of our pet peeves around internet behaviors, it is inspiring that 82% of Malaysians say that the internet has improved their lives,” says Christian Thrane, Digi’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Mind Your Manners
Malaysian online users were characterized by the findings as being nice and not naughty. Malaysians ranked the lowest against the region when sharing inappropriate content: 1%; and soliciting for donations online: 2%.
But when then asked which online annoying behaviors respondents have personally engaged in themselves, Malaysians admitted to (1) posting pictures of food: 36%; (2) inviting people to play online games: 26%;(3) and poor spelling and grammar: 18%. And while women regionally overall were more likely to post pictures of food (31% versus 23% for men), both genders were equally at fault of being negligent of their spelling and grammar – 14% equally.
Gender breakdowns also revealed behavioral nuances and potential correlations in behavior. Two-thirds of respondents admitting to excessively posting selfies on the net were female, whereas the majority of respondents who merely scroll through their Facebook timelines but don’t post updates are male.
Net Dependence
Per the survey, a majority of people in all countries, 67%, agree that they access the internet very regularly. But Malaysians showed a slightly different attitude to internet use by having the lowest percentage at 56%, versus 80% in Thailand. And it is worth noting that while both the majority of men and women agreed with the statement, slightly more females surveyed felt a stronger desire to go online for personal reasons than their male counterparts.
Females surveyed reportedly spend more time online than men with 21% spending two hours online per day for personal reasons–equating to a mammoth 730 hours per year. Conversely, men reportedly access the internet more regularly than females with 89% accessing it ‘many times a day outside of work purposes’.
