According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, Gen Z respondents were spending the most time using their phones, over *** hours a day. By contrast, Baby Boomers recorded a daily screen time of roughly ***** hours and ** minutes.  Many users feel addicted to smartphones As technology’s role in our everyday life increases, consumers tend to spend more and more time using electronic devices, whether it is for working and studying on laptops and tablets, watching TV or scrolling social media on smartphones. As a consequence, many users across all generations feel somewhat addicted to smartphones. According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, Gen Z users felt addicted to such devices the most, followed by Millennials. Taking a step back and nostalgia for early 2000s How can we combat the overwhelming urge to stay connected and take a step back from our always-on reality? In an effort to reduce screen time, many users, especially those in Gen Z, are expressing a sense of nostalgia for early 2000s technology, particularly dumb phones and wired headphones. For instance, during a 2024 survey in the United States, ** percent of Gen Z respondents stated they would be interested in purchasing dumb phones, followed by ** percent of Millennials - a trend that might involve more users in the future.

According to a survey of media users in the United States fielded in December 2024, TV took up ** percent of time spent with entertainment screens by respondents over the age of 35 years. The surveyed Gen Z consumers spent ** percent of their entertainment screen time with TV, while they devoted ** percent of that time to gaming.

According to a survey from July 2021, approximately one half of Romanian Gen Z representatives aged between 16 and 18 years spent from four to eight hours per day in front of a TV, phone, or a laptop screen. The highest share of those spending over 12 hours in front of screens was recorded among 19-to-21-year olds.

In August 2022, social media users aged between 18 and 24 years in the United States spent over ***** minutes on average watching content on YouTube. TikTok was the second most used platform for Gen Z users in the U.S., generating *** minutes on average in engagement during the examined month. Instagram ranked third, with *** minutes spent by Gen Z users on the popular photo and video-sharing platform.

A 2023 survey revealed that smartphones were the preferred device for watching video content in the U.S. among 13 to 24-year-olds, with ** percent using them weekly. In contrast, smart TVs were more popular among viewers aged 35 years and older, indicating a clear generational divide in viewing preferences. As more and more people switch to streaming offers, MVPD set-top boxes have become increasingly unpopular. Generational differences in content choices According to another survey from October 2023, nearly **** of Gen Z respondents stated to prefer social video and live streams, compared to one third of millennials. This preference for short-form, interactive content aligns with the high smartphone usage among younger viewers. Meanwhile, millennials are more likely to choose traditional TV shows and movies as their favorite content type, explaining their higher penetration rate of smart TVs and connected devices. Entertainment time The amount of time spent on different video platforms varies significantly by age group. Millennials with young children spend an average of over ***** hours per day watching content on connected TV devices, more than double the time spent by other demographics. This trend is further supported by data showing that viewers over 35 dedicate ** percent of their entertainment screen time to TV, while Gen Z allocates only ** percent to this medium. Instead, younger viewers spread their time across various platforms, with gaming accounting for the highest share of their entertainment screen time.

How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2025, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 141 minutes per day, down from 143 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just 2 hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively. People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events friends. Global impact of social mediaSocial media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general. During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.

In 2023, users in the United Kingdom spent an average of three hours and 50 minutes per day using their mobile devices. This represents a decrease from the over four hours that users in the country spent on their smartphones during 2021 and 2022. Between 2019 and the end of 2022, daily time spent on mobile in the UK experienced a slow but constant increase, while in 2023 the trend normalized to the levels it had before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a survey conducted in June 2023, adults in the United States spent more time per day on TikTok than on any other leading social media platform. Overall, respondents reported spending an average of 53.8 minutes per day on the social video app. YouTube and Twitter ranked second and third, each with an average of 48 minutes and 34 minutes spent on the platforms per day, respectively.

U.S. teens have time for certain platforms

Different social media platforms attract different demographics, with teenagers in the United States being more drawn to TikTok and YouTube over Facebook. In 2023, teenagers in the United States spent an average of almost two hours on YouTube and 1.5 hours on TikTok every day, 1451257 while Facebook was used by teens for less than half an hour per day. Furthermore, social media habits differ between genders, as teen girls were more likely to spend more time than boys on Instagram.

TikTok is king for teens and Gen Z

Although spending 1.5 hours on the Generation Z app of choice may sound rather modest, some TikTok users devote much more of their time to the platform . According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, around eight percent of teenagers in the United States spent over five hours a day on TikTok. 1417187 whereas another 22 percent reported spending between two and three hours daily on the video-based app.

In the third quarter of 2024, the average daily time spent using the internet was around *** hours and **** minutes in Vietnam. In the same period, Vietnamese internet users spent around over ** hour per day to watch TV via streaming or online.

As of June 2024, 21 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 years spent six to ten hours per week playing video games. Overall, respondents from this age group were also more likely than others to be heavy gamers - a total of eight percent played video games more than 20 hours in an average week. In total, weekly gaming usage was more likely among younger adults in the United States.

Die Bildschirmzeit bei Jugendlichen in Deutschland liegt im Jahr 2023 im Durchschnitt bei rund *** Stunden am Tag. Dabei ist auffällig, dass die Bildschirmzeit mit steigendem Alter länger wird und bei den 18- bis 19-Jährigen bei fast *** Stunden lag. Zurückzuführen ist diese Tendenz auf Reglementierungen bei der Dauer der Smartphonenutzung, an die sich gerade die Jüngeren oftmals halten müssen. Smartphone meistgenutztes Medium unter Jugendlichen Gleichzeitig ist das Smartphone der JIM-Studie zufolge das bedeutendste Medium in der Freizeit bei den deutschen Jugendlichen. Die Internetnutzung durch Jugendliche hat sich in Deutschland im selben Atemzug im Vergleich zu vor zehn Jahren deutlich gesteigert und lag 2023 bei *** Minuten pro Tag. Vergleich mit anderen Zielgruppen Die durchschnittliche tägliche Nutzungsdauer des medialen Internets lag im Jahr 2023 in der deutschen Gesamtbevölkerung bei *** Minuten. Im Jahr 2019 lag sie noch bei ** Minuten pro Tag. Die mediale Internetnutzung beinhaltet unter anderem das (zeitversetzte) Ansehen von Videos, die Nutzung von Musikstreaming-Diensten und Social Media Angeboten, sowie das Lesen von Zeitungen und Zeitschriften im Internet.