The impact of new technologies on leisure activities in developed and emerging economies

In the last two decades there has been an exponential increase in computer use worldwide followed by a similar expansion of mobile phone ownership. Technological advances in those technologies have had a major impact on the way people use technology in their lives, including the way people spend their leisure time. As computer use migrated from work to home environment it was paralleled by technological advances in functionality and information access through the internet. Increased accessibility of data extended computer use beyond the business and gaming sectors. The expansion of search engines widened the user base dramatically. After 2004 the introduction and popularity of social media websites further expanded internet audiences. As computers came down in price ownership levels went up. The emergence of mobile phones followed a similar exponential growth. In the last decade 3G mobile phone technologies provided internet access by mobile phone, and this change enabled people in emerging countries to leapfrog the computer stage and access the internet from their phones. The way people communicate has also changed. When social networking emerged it stimulated an exponential expansion in use of sites such as Facebook. These changes have all had a major impact on the way people conduct their lives. Social networking and social media have changed the way people interact and how much time they spend interacting and what other activities are displaced. These trends have some similarities across cultures, but the profiles of user behavior changes in different cultural and socio-economic contexts as well as in different age groupings. These changes have had a major impact on leisure activities in both developed and emerging economies: what people do, the way people pursue those activities in both their home locations, and when and how they travel.