2.5 trillion photos to be shared online in 2016, estimates study

Big Four firm Deloitte has estimated that almost 2.5 trillion photos will be shared by people online during this year.

Dr Danny McConnell, the accountancy and advisor firm's Belfast technology partner, also predicted that of those, 90% would be taken using smartphone cameras.

Smartphone dominance

The driving force behind the popularity of posting photos is social media, as recent research shows that snaps receive 53% more “likes” and 104% more click-throughs than posts that rely only on text content.

“Selfie” self-portraits, the ubiquitous nature of smartphones and their connectivity to the internet are the reasons for their dominance over traditional dedicated digital cameras.

Deloitte expects 1.6 billion smartphones to be sold in total this year, which will be 13 times greater than the peak sales for digital cameras (120 million in 2010).

The firm also estimates that the volume of photos shared online will exceed the numbers of actual photographs taken in the 1990s by a factor of 30.

Dr McConnell explained: "As of the end of 2015 there were over 2,000 photo-sharing apps available."

"The more fervent reaction to social network posts with photos is likely to encourage yet more posts with images," he added.

Millennials stick with PCs

Another snippet from Deloitte revealed that the 18 to 24 age group, often called millennials, were not ready to ditch personal computers entirely.

“Although regarded as the smartphone generation, this age group sees smartphones and PCs as complements, not substitutes," Deloitte said.

"Its ownership, intent to purchase and use of PCs will likely be higher than any other age group in 2016," the company added.