Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702141
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2016 6 News JAMES DEBONO 55% of the Maltese use a social media network everyday to share pictures, articles, videos and movies – a sur- vey by the EU's statistics agency has found. This makes the Maltese the lead- ers in Europe when it comes to us- ing social networks on a daily basis to disseminate information. This emerges from a Europe-wide Eurobarometer survey conducted in all 28 member states conducted in April and published this week. On average only 37% of all EU citizens use social networks to share stuff on a daily basis, while 60% do so on a weekly basis. But in Malta 72% used social networks for the same purpose at least once a week – at par with the Italians and second only to the Portuguese, 79% of whom share stuff on the social media at least once a week. In contrast, the lowest proportions of In- ternet users using online social networks at least once a week are observed among inter- net users in Germany (42%), Slovenia (49%), Denmark and France (both 51%). Only 20% of Maltese never use social net- works to share posts, eight points lower than the EU average of 28%. The data confirms the parallel dimension of Maltese people's social circles, onto a so- cial media ecosystem like Facebook. When MaltaToday asked social media expert Alex Grech to predict what would change in 2016 in terms of social media, the academic promptly replied that the technol- ogy and society itself would continue to feed off each other: "We discover new online content via a toxic dependency on apps and the stream from our social media of choice, served to us on our mobile phone… We are now all slaves to the 'popular' and the most- recent: we live in online echo-chambers." Even newspapers have become dependent on the social media buzz, with news stories being generated by Facebook commentary or irresponsible posts and social media tiffs. "I don't think the Maltese are going to get any nicer in their use of social media in 2016," Grech had predicted back in Janu- ary. "We continue to develop our taste for anonymous trolling on village 'zekzik-style' surveillance blogs and mainstream media sites," Grech said, calling for an education drive to raise awareness on digital literacies in the classroom, the boardroom and the home. "We need to understand how technology both enhances and constrains pre-existing cultural practices. The sooner we do this, the better if we still wish to put our so- called social media to good use. I'm not sure we do." Online dependence The survey shows that 69% of the Maltese use search engines to help them find stuff on the internet on a daily basis, compared to the EU average of 57%. Only the Swedes and the British make a greater use of search engines. And 13% of Maltese use the internet every day to buy stuff – four points more than the EU average. But while the Maltese are avid online us- ers, 54% are concerned about the data col- lected about them on the Internet. This cor- responds to the level of concern expressed by Europeans in general. 56% of Maltese also expect public authori- ties to regulate online platforms to limit the extent to which they display different search engine results based on the information stored about them. Only 34% feel comfort- able with search engines using stored infor- mation about their online activity. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Facebook nation 55% of Maltese share on daily basis Construction worker charged with Msida betting shop robbery, foiled by alarm Multiple explosions in Luqa pastizzerija, residents evacuated A 40-year-old pedestrian died after he was run over by a car in Mellieha early yesterday morning. An- dre Debattista, a father of two, was walking in Marfa Road at around 6:30am when he was hit by a car and flung several metres. The man behind the wheel, a 22-year-old from Fgura, braked his car sud- denly, causing the driver behind him – a 39-year- old man from Xewkija – to crash into him. The pedestrian was giv- en first-aid treatment by a doctor who happened to be cycling nearby and a medical team was called on site, but he succumbed to his injuries before he could be hospitalised. Father of two, 40, dies after being run over on Marfa Road, Mellieha POLICE are trying to get to the bottom of a series of explosions at a pastiz- zerija in Luqa early on Friday morning. Residents of Triq Sant'Andrija in Luqa were evacuated as a re- sult of the 2am blasts, but no injuries were re- ported. Police officers stationed at Luqa heard the ex- plosions and saw flames licking the shop's facade, its shutter and window having been damaged by the explosion. They acted quickly, evacuating resi- dents of overlying and adjacent apartments. It was during this evac- uation, that two further explosions occurred. A Serbian construction worker was charged with robbing €3,950 from a betting shop in Triq ix- Xatt, Msida yesterday morning. Dejan Lijeskic denied all charges but was remand- ed in police custody after he failed to request bail. The break-in took place at around 5am on Satur- day morning, while the shop was closed, but po- lice were quickly alerted once the shop's burglar alarm went off. Lijeskic was arrested at a construction site in Te- staferrata Street, Gzira, where he was found hid- ing. Court & Police Oversharing to their hearts' content Percentage who engage in online activities on a daily basis: Malta EU Use search engines 69% 57% Share stuff on social networks 55% 37% Buy products and services 13% 9% Source: Eurobarometer network everyday to share pictures, 55% of Maltese share on daily basis Percentage who engage in online activities on a daily basis: Malta EU Use search engines 69% 57%