We use social networks intensively, although Spanish-speaking users do so less than English-speakers.

That would be the main conclusion of the survey we carried out last week (between 13 and 16 February) to mark the first anniversary of BBVAtech (the name used by the BBVA Technology and Operations area in the online world).

Spanish-speaking users are connected to between 3 and 5 social networks, according to the majority of responses from more than 300 people who participated in the survey. By network, 85.57% say they have a profile on Facebook, 67.57% on LinkedIn, 58.30% on Twitter and 51.74% on Google+. The latter is surprising given that it is a network that has only been available for six months.

The survey also reveals that nearly 1 in every 4 people is hyperconnected (22.52% of all Spanish-speaking users), with a presence on 6 or more social networks (16.72% between 6 and 10 and 5.80% on over 10).

The remaining platforms, by order of relevance, include YouTube, Flickr and SlideShare. There are also those who specifically mentioned other networks, mostly Tuenti, FourSquare, Instagram and Pinterest from among the wide variety that exists. It is significant that the latter is one of the most repeated in this area, as it was included on the questionnaire within the “Flickr / Picasa / Pinterest” group. However, those who took the survey preferred to highlight their personal choice of this social network, which focuses on graphic-based content and is only accessible by invitation.

As regards English-speaking users, they have a significant presence on Google+ (83.33%) and on Twitter (91.67%) in particular. In addition, the percentage of users who are classified as hyperusers of social networks (6 or more networks) increases from 22.52% to 50%.

Meanwhile, the recent collaboration agreement between Google Apps and BBVA is also reflected in this survey: Some 3 out of 5 people consider that anything related to cloud computing or the Cloud will be the most relevant technology for the future. It is followed, at quite a distance, by geolocalisation and augmented reality.

In fact, the possibilities offered by cloud computing are very closely related to mobility, which will be the immediate future of technology according to 43.4% of those surveyed in Spanish, although very similar to those who consider that this immediate future includes the “maximum ability to share content on all types of platforms” (39.24% of responses). In the survey in English, there is a notable difference between the two options: 7 to 3.

Furthermore, if the most relevant technology news of 2011 is taken into account, we’ll be speaking the “language of green Martian robots” now and in the future. Nearly half of those surveyed in Spanish believe that the advance of Android devices is the most important aspect. Three out of 10 indicated the death of Steve Jobs. And one in 10 feels that the top news was the launch of Google+. However, in the case of English-speaking users, Google+ is ranked first with the same score as the advance of Android devices, relegating the death of Steve Jobs to third place.

In both languages, we are “mad” about mobile gadgets: the “tablets / iPad” and “smartphones / iPhone” options were above all other answers. There is a slight bias in favour of “tablets / iPad” in the case of the survey in Spanish (5 percentage points more), which increases notably in the case of the survey in English (30 percentage points higher).

In fact, tablets and smartphones are the clear winners in the battle for the best technological invention so far in the 21st century, although the outright champion is smartphones. There is also significant support (around 10%) for cloud computing as the top technological invention during the early years of the 21st century. Social networks, PCs, Wi-Fi, GPS and everything related to DNA and biotechnology also get various mentions. Of all the responses, we can’t omit the one that categorically stated that there have been no relevant inventions, as “they had all been previously invented”.

The juiciest question was the last one, which asked participants to name three relevant people – living or dead – from the world of technology. There was a wide variety of opinions, though there were five clear winners, practically with the same number of votes: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the team made up of Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

It should also be noted that survey takers had a good memory, as many remembered other names such as Thomas A. Edison, Linus Torvalds, Carl Sagan, Nikola Tesla, Richard Stallman, Isaac Asimov, Albert Einstein, Steve Wozniak, Nicholas Negroponte, Jeff Bezos and Tim Berners-Lee, among many others.

As with the question on the greatest technological invention this century, on this last question there is one answer that we cannot overlook, due to its accuracy and understanding of the online environment: the three most relevant technology people were and are “the social network users”. So there you have it.

Thank you to all those who participated in this short survey, which has given us a slightly better understanding of the users of this blog.

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