Another Zoom Christmas! Festive period will be most ‘connected’ ever with Britons spending more than seven hours online on December 25, survey finds
- Britons are set to spend seven hours and 24 minutes online on Christmas Day
- 62 per cent of us will be watching TV together and 33 per cent on video calls
- And 42 per cent of us are planning to have the most ‘connected’ Christmas ever
After many were forced to see loved ones via screens last Christmas, you might think we’d spend less time online this year.
But a survey has found Britons are set to spend an average of seven hours and 24 minutes using the internet on Christmas Day for the most ‘connected’ festive break ever.
Many will be going overboard to spend time with family and friends this festive season, including watching TV together (62 per cent), making video calls to one another (33 per cent) and sharing photos online (29 per cent).
A survey of 2,000 adults found a third believe it’s more important than ever to feel close to loved ones after the isolation caused by last year’s restrictions.
And 42 per cent plan to have their most ‘connected’ Christmas ever.
As a result, the average adult will spend almost seven-and-a-half hours online on December 25, which includes one hour of video calls, an hour and 42 minutes watching films on internet streaming services and an hour and 12 minutes scrolling on social media.
Offline ways people plan to spend time with their relatives on the day include eating together (73 per cent), going for a walk (50 per cent) and playing board games (47 per cent).
The research, commissioned by full-fibre broadband provider Hyperoptic, found almost a fifth would feel lonely during the festive season without any technology.
And a third believe that while it’s impossible to see all family and friends over Christmas, access to the internet allows them to stay in touch.
Hyperoptic’s managing director Charles Davies said: ‘The research shows how families hope to be more connected than ever despite the changing landscape of Christmas again this year.’
He added: ‘Technology and internet connection clearly plays a vital part in celebrating with family and friends who don’t live locally.’
Be our (Zoom) guest… Comic Relief’s socially-distanced panto
Acting from home: Lily James reveals the part she’ll play in the pantomime
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful damsel and a cursed prince who fell in love… over Zoom.
Beaming in on laptops rather than from a land far away, the star-studded cast for Comic Relief’s virtual Beauty and the Beast revealed who they will play in the panto.
Lily James and TV and theatre actor Oliver Chris will take on the leading roles.
Miss James, 32, will play Rose while 43-year-old Chris performs as the titular Beast – with Inbetweeners star Simon Bird as candlestick Remy.
The show also features cameos from David Walliams, David Tennant and Miranda Hart.
It follows last year’s Cinderella, which starred The Crown’s Olivia Colman.
Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis said this year’s is ‘more full of a sense of fame and fun’.
Beauty And The Beast: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas airs on Sunday at 9pm on BBC2.
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