How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2024, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 143 minutes per day, down from 151 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 three hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just two 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 February 2024, adults in the United States aged between 18 and 24, spent 186 minutes per day engaging with social media platforms. In comparison, respondents aged 65 and older dedicated approximately 102 minutes of their day to social media. TikTok was the most engaging social media platform for U.S. consumers aged between 18 and 24 years. The popular video was also the most engaging among users aged 35 and 54 years, commanding between 45 and 50 minutes of users' daily attention. Respondents aged between 55 and 65, reported to spending between 45 minutes daily on Facebook.

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.

According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, teenagers spent an average of 4.8 hours every day on social media platforms. Girls spent 5.3 hours on social networks daily, compared to 4.4 hours for boys. YouTube and TikTok were the most popular online networks among those aged 13 to 19, with 1.9 and 1.5 hours of average daily engagement, respectively. The most used platform for girls was TikTok, while the most used platform for boys was YouTube. Are teens constantly connected to social media? YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are the most attractive and time-consuming platforms for young internet users. A survey conducted in the U.S. in 2023 found that 62 percent of teenagers were almost constantly connected to Instagram, and 17 percent were almost constantly connected to TikTok. Overall, 71 percent of teens used YouTube daily, and 47 percent used Snapchat daily. Furthermore, YouTube had a 93 percent reach among American teens in 2023, down from 95 percent in 2022. Teens and their internet devices For younger generations especially, social media is mostly accessed via mobile devices, and almost all teenagers in the United States have smartphone access. A 2023 survey conducted in the U.S. found that 92 percent of teens aged 13 to 14 years had access to a smartphone at home, as well as 97 percent of those aged 15 to 17. Additionally, U.S. girls were slightly more likely than their male counterparts to have access to a smartphone.

During the third quarter of 2024, internet users in the United Kingdom (UK) spent an average over five and a half hours per day accessing the internet via any device. UK online audiences spent approximately one hour and 37 minutes per day on social media, while an additional 50 minutes were devoted to using a gaming console daily. Traditional media - is usage declining? Some forms of traditional media in the country are in decline more than others when it comes to usage, which is especially visible in the case of TV. In recent years the number of TV households in the UK has remained fairly unchanged, however, the time spent watching television has been constantly decreasing. Interestingly, radio listenership has not followed this trend. Digital radio format usage is growing as per some studies. Yet, live radio dominates the time spent with any audio in the UK by a large margin.British radio is a showcase for the loyalty of its fans. In mid-2023, after 30 years of employment at BBC, Ken Bruce, one of the highest-earning presenters of the company, left to work at a rival radio station. He took both of his signature programs to his new employer. Even though BBC Radio 2 remains the leading radio station in the UK by audience numbers, Bruce’s departure meant a loss of a million listeners for the BBC between the first and second quarters of 2023.

In 2020, the average daily time spent on social media by U.S. users amounted to 65 minutes. This duration is set to stay stable in the upcoming years. The daily minutes in 2020 are strongly related to social distancing due to COVID-19 and thus spending more time with social platforms in order to stay connected.

According to a global survey conducted in 2021, respondents who belonged to Generation Z reported spending on average three hours per day on social media. Overall, Millennials stated that they spent 2.25 hours per day on online social platforms. Those belonging to the Baby boomer generation spent an average one hour on social media, daily.

In 2023, children in the United States spent an average of 120 minutes per day on TikTok. Instagram ranked second, with young users engaging with the popular video messaging app for approximately 65 minutes per day. By comparison, children in the United States spent 20 minutes on average on Pinterest, while the Reddit mobile app only saw approximately 10 minutes of daily usage by children and teens in the country.

Between October 2020 and March 2021, users aged between 40 and 44 years were the demographic spending the largest amount of time engaging with social media apps, with an average of 59.85 minutes per day. Global users aged 19 or younger spent the least amount of time on social media apps, while users aged 50 years or older spent approximately 56.43 minutes per day on social media apps.

During the first quarter of 2023, internet users in Brazil spent an average of three hours and 49 minutes per day on social media. Nigeria and the Philippines also reported high usage levels. By comparison, internet users in Japan spent less than 50 minutes per day on social media. Low levels of daily usage were also recorded in South Korea and the Belgium.

As of January 2023 social network Facebook was ranked first worldwide in terms of active users with almost three billion MAU. Other popular social media include mobile messaging platforms YouTube and WhatsApp, as well as social content sharing networks such as Instagram and social video platform TikTok.

Most social networks are accessible through multiple platforms, but many popular social media started out as mobile apps, demonstrating the growing trend of mobile first development. Examples include Instagram, which initially was launched as an iOS photo editing and discovery app as well as mobile social messenger, as well as TikTok, which recorded 23.7 million downloads worldwide via the Google Play Store alone in June 2023.

Social networking does not only enable users to connect with other people but also with brands and celebrities. Social media has also become a growing source of news for internet users in many countries.

Nearly every fourth of teenagers in Poland spent from two to four hours a day on social media in 2022.

In 2019, social media users in the Latin American region ranked in terms of daily social network usage, spending an average of 3 hours and 32 minutes per day on social networks. Users in North America accessed social media for approximately one hour and 56 minutes per day.

As of January 2021, the average time spent by day by American users on Facebook was 33 minutes, Facebook was the platform with the largest amount of time spent daily, followed by TikTok and Twitter. A factor that played a major role in the time spent on social media was the coronavirus outbreak.

In 2021, adults in the U.S. spent an average of 485 minutes (eight hours and five minutes) with digital media each day. This figure marked an increase of 11 minutes compared to the previous year.

Traditional vs. digital media usage amid COVID-19

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic boosted media consumption across the globe. It also rapidly accelerated the shift from traditional to digital media consumption that has been unfolding in the United States and other markets for the better part of a decade. In 2020, consumers in the U.S. spent less than 350 minutes per day using analog media and entertainment formats such as television, radio, or print media. In contrast, they devoted an estimated 470 minutes to digital media and entertainment channels. Even though some traditional formats saw a temporary uptick in demand in 2020, the latest forecasts distinctly show that the media usage gap will continue to widen.

How do users spend their time online?

There has been a great influx of digital media and entertainment formats in recent years. According to a survey carried out in the early days of the pandemic, online video streaming ranked among the most popular digital media activities in the United States. This finding still holds true in 2022, as platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, or Disney+ continue to add highly anticipated titles to their extensive content catalogs. Other popular digital media categories include online audio, social media, and gaming. Not only did online gaming traffic skyrocket in 2020, but young internet users in particular also spend more time watching gaming video content on services like Twitch nowadays.

During the third quarter of 2023, internet users in the United States spent over seven hours daily using the internet, with over 4.5 hours spent viewing video content on TV (both broadcast and streamed) as well as more than two hours devoted to using social media platforms. This substantial amount of time spent with online media reflects a significant trend in consumption habits, which have been influenced by the need for inexpensive, faster, and more accessible entertainment.

Media Consumption Trends and Future Plans The average daily time spent with digital media in the United States is expected to increase from 439 minutes (seven hours and 19 minutes) in 2022 to close to eight hours by the end of 2025. This pivot is dictated by the ease of access of online entertainment and variety of content available on numerous platforms.

According to a survey conducted in April 2023, the majority of consumers in the United States were not planning to make any major changes to most of their media habits in the following year. However, a notable 21 percent planned to increase their time spent listening to podcasts. In general, there was an evident shift towards reducing or ending paid subscriptions to numerous media services.

Free entertainment is on social A survey conducted in June 2023 highlighted that adults in the United States spent more time per day on TikTok than on any other leading social media platform, with an average of 53.8 minutes per day. The video sharing network gained more popularity with users than YouTube and Twitter. This underlines the growing interest in short form video and fast entertainment options. Today consumers step away from traditional media and dive into online offers.

In 2023, children in the United Kingdom spent an average of 127 minutes per day on TikTok. This was followed by Instagram, as children in the UK reported using the app for an average of 40 minutes daily. Children in the UK aged between four and 18 years also used Facebook for 15 minutes a day on average in the measured period.

Mobile ownership and usage among UK children In 2021, around 60 percent of kids aged between eight and 11 years in the UK owned a smartphone, while children aged between five and seven having access to their own device were approximately 30 percent. Mobile phones were also the second most popular devices used to access the web by children aged between eight and 11 years, as tablet computers were still the most popular option for users aged between three and 11 years. Children were not immune to the popularity acquired by short video format content in 2020 and 2021, spending an average of 97 minutes per day engaging with TikTok, as well as over 50 minutes on the YouTube app in 2021.

Children data protection In 2021, 37 percent of U.S. parents and 44 percent of UK parents reported being slightly concerned with their children’s device usage habits. While the share of parents reporting to be very or extremely concerned was considerably smaller, children are considered among the most vulnerable digital audiences and need additional attention when it comes to data and privacy protection. According to a study conducted during the first quarter of 2022, 76 percent of children’s apps hosted in the Google Play Store and 67 percent of apps hosted in the Apple App Store transmitted users’ locations to advertisers.

Additionally, 42 percent of kids’ apps were found to collect persistent identifiers, such as users’ IP addresses, which could potentially lead to Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) violations in the United States. In the United Kingdom, companies have to take into account several obligations when considering online environments for children, including an age-appropriate design and avoiding sharing children’s data.

In the third quarter of 2024, on average, Vietnamese internet users spent 2 hours and 14 minutes using social media on all devices. In that year, Facebook was the leading active social media apps in the country.

Hong Kong internet users spent an average of one hour 42 minutes each day on social media, according to a 2023 digital usage survey. YouTube gained the highest attention with monthly usage time averaging 22 hours and 31 minutes per user, which means that users spent about 45 minutes a day on the platform. Facebook came in second with 13 hours and 47 minutes in the monthly screen time, down by three hours. Instagram, on the other hand, up by one hour to 12 hours and 53 minutes.

Social media usage in the Asia-Pacific region varies significantly across countries, with the Philippines leading in daily time spent at three hours and 32 minutes in the third quarter of 2024. This was a stark contrast to Japan's 46 minutes per day. Penetration rates and user bases Among Asia Pacific countries, South Korea boasts the highest social media penetration at 93.4 percent, followed closely by Hong Kong at 86.2 percent. However, populous countries like Indonesia, China, and India show lower penetration rates, indicating significant growth potential. Despite this, China leads in absolute numbers with more than one billion active social media users, while India and Indonesia rank second and third in this category. These figures suggest that despite lower penetration rates in some countries, the sheer population size translates to massive user numbers. Platform preferences Facebook remains the dominant social media platform across Asia; however, competitors have gained ground in some markets. For example, Chinese network WeChat is the most popular platform in China, offering integrated services beyond social media. In Thailand and Laos, X (formerly Twitter) accounts for more than 70 percent of social media traffic.

Americans are spending more time than ever consuming media, with projections indicating a continued upward trend. In 2023, the average daily time spent with major media formats, including television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and digital platforms, reached 12 hours and 31 minutes. This figure is expected to surpass 13 hours and 40 minutes by 2026, highlighting the growing role of media in daily life. Digital media dominates consumption The increase in overall media consumption is largely driven by digital platforms. By 2025, U.S. consumers are anticipated to spend nearly eight hours per day with digital media alone. This shift towards digital formats was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a sharp increase in the usage of streaming services and e- books. Today the digital media thrives because of mobile internet and smart TVs, and it is likely to continue on this path as consumers are still looking for ease of access and on-the-go experiences. Generational differences in media habits While television remains the primary device among the general population, younger demographics show different media device preferences. A March 2024 study revealed that 33 percent of adults in the United States used mainly the TV for entertainment purposes. However, for those aged 18 to 34, smartphones were the primary device of choice. This generational divide in media consumption habits underscores the evolving landscape of entertainment and the growing importance of mobile devices in capturing younger audiences.