By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY, NSW: In a case of watching the watchers, a survey of over 3,000 YouTube users has produced a demographic picture which shows something telling about us: workers make up the majority of YouTube content consumers.

The survey by Research International, conducted on behalf of Google, canvassed 3,000 males and females nationwide, aged over 14 years, who had visited the YouTube website in the past three months.

The survey shows that the demographics of YouTube viewers is generally reflective of the general Australian population.

In terms of age breakdowns, 14 to 17 year olds only make up 7 per cent of Australian YouTube users, 18 to 29 year olds comprise 32 per cent, 30 to 39 year olds make up 20 per cent, the 40 to 49 age bracket makes up 18 per cent, the 50 to 59s comprise 13 per cent and the 60 years and over segment makes up 10 of Australian YouTube users.

Of those surveyed, 57 per cent are working, 19 per cent are stay at home, and only 15 per cent are studying.

Interestingly, 61 per cent of Australian YouTube users do not consider themselves ‘tech-savvy’. Also, 79 per cent of viewers stayed on the site longer than they intended to and spent on average one hour and nine minutes per week on YouTube.

So, what did the survey reveal about what Australian YouTube watchers are watching?

Of the content consumed, 51 per cent was music videos, 31 per cent movie trailers, 27 per cent user-generated content, 26 per cent TV shows, 25 per cent TV advertisements, 22 per cent news clips and 18 per cent sports news/highlights.