The Times They Are a-Changing (again!): the second, great digital transition to the mobile space

Abstract

Purpose: According to industry estimates the mobile device will soon be the main platform for searching the web and reading the information found there, and yet our knowledge of how millions of mobile consumers use information, and how that differs from desktops/laptops users, is imperfect. The paper sets out to fill the knowledge gap. Approach/methods: The method used is an analysis of the logs of a major cultural website, Europeana. The behavior of more than 150,000 mobile users was examined over a period of more than a year and compared with that for PC users of the same site and for the same period. The analyses conducted include: size and growth of use, time patterns of use; geographical location of users and, comparative information-seeking behaviour patterns. Results and conclusions: The main findings were that mobile users were the fastest-growing user group and will rise in number very rapidly and that their visits were very different in the aggregate from those arising from fixed platforms. Mobile visits could be described as being information “lite”: typically shorter, less interactive, and less content viewed per visit. Use takes a social rather than office pattern, with mobile use peaking at nights and weekends. The variation between different mobile devices was large, with information seeking on the iPad similar to that for PCs and laptops and that for smartphones very different indeed. The research further confirms that information seeking behavior is platform-specific and the latest platforms are changing it all again. Websites, publishers an dlibrarians will have to adapt. Originality/Value: The research described here constitutes one of the biggest studies of mobile users published and certainly no one else has conducted research on cultural information consumers on the go.