A global survey conducted in March 2020 revealed that the coronavirus has had a direct impact on in-home media consumption around the world, with ** percent of total respondents professing to have read more books or listened to more audiobooks at home and ** percent having listened to more radio due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst more than ** percent of consumers spent longer on messaging services and social media. Interestingly, although at least ** percent of respondents in most countries said that they were watching more news coverage, figures for Australia and the United States were lower, amounting to just ** and ** percent respectively. Australians were also the least likely to be reading more newspapers; just **** percent of consumers said that they were doing so compared to the global total of ** percent. Whilst ** percent of Italians were spending longer on messaging services, in Japan the same was true for only ***** percent of respondents, and survey participants from China and the Philippines were by far the most likely to be spending more time on music streaming services.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

According to data collected during the first quarter of 2020, adults aged 18 to 34 spent more time browsing the web via smartphone than any other age group in the United States. Overall media consumption was highest among adults aged 50 to 64 during that period. Traditional media Traditional media is gradually losing its appeal to younger, more tech-savvy generations. While television consumption is ******* among adults who have not grown up with the internet or other digital channels, young Millennials and Gen Z tend to prefer non-linear forms of news and entertainment. Data on the median age of media users in the U.S. showed that the average age of TV viewers and print magazine readers was higher than that of internet users in 2020, and similar generational trends can be observed in many digitally developed markets globally. Impact of COVID-19 on media usage The onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic boosted media consumption across the United States and worldwide in 2020. While the average time spent with traditional media ********* for the first time in over a decade, digital media consumption saw a particularly impressive spike that year due to remote working and schooling setups. In the following years, the gap between traditional and digital media consumption is expected to widen even further.

According to data gathered in a survey held in 2024, ** percent of responding U.S. adults said that they got their news from social media often, the highest recorded in the time period shown. After a growth of people who claimed to never get news from social media from ** percent in 2020 to 32 percent in 2021, this share dropped back to ** percent in 2024.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began, consumers around the world have changed their habits accordingly in line with measures imposed in a bid to control the spread of the disease, and this has had a direct impact on media consumption on a global level. Data varies country by country, but figures on increased media consumption among four different generations also reveals certain patterns. For example, Gen Z are ** percent more likely than Boomers to have spent more time listening to music streaming services, whilst Gen X are the most likely to have been listening to the radio more as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tradtional formats were less prefereable to social networks or messaging apps, with newspaper and magazine readership increasing by just * to * percent across all generations.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

The average daily time spent with digital media in the United States is expected to increase from *** minutes (seven hours and 19 minutes) in 2022 to close to ***** hours in 2025. Higher online media consumption in 2020 was partially attributed to the coronavirus outbreak. Impact of COVID-19 on media consumption In-home media consumption grew sharply in March 2020 in the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ** percent of U.S. respondents reported spending more time watching shows and films on streaming services, and ** percent were reading books or listening to audiobooks more than usual. Despite predictions that this spike in media usage would fall after the initial implementation of shelter-in-place orders, consumers also continued spending more time with media in the summer of 2020. The same survey, held in July that year, also asked participants about their plans to continue with their increased media consumption after the pandemic has run its course. This garnered different responses, with only a handful of U.S. adults planning to carry on investing more time in most media activities. Again though, watching movies and shows on streaming platforms and reading or listening to books were the most popular options.

Social media is one of the go-to news sources in the United States – over one third of U.S. adults responding to a 2022 survey got their news from social media platforms every day, and a further 22 percent did so a few times or at least once per week. After the surge in social media news consumption in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily engagement fell in 2021, but the increase the following year suggests that daily news access on social networks could continue to grow in years to come.

The most popular social sites for news

An annual report surveying U.S. adults from 2019 to 2022 revealed that Facebook was the most popular social network used for news, followed by YouTube. Important to note here though is that TikTok was not included in the survey question for those years, a platform increasingly popular with younger generations. Whilst the share of adults regularly using TikTok for news aged 50 years or above was just five percent, among those aged between 18 and 29 years the figure was over five times higher.

Meanwhile, Twitter is journalists’ preferred social media site, with the share who use Twitter for their job at almost 70 percent. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter however, some journalists raised concerns about the future of free speech on the platform.

Gen Z and social media news consumption

A 2022 survey found that half of all Gen Z respondents used social media for news every day. Gen Z is driving growth in social media news usage, a trend which will continue if the younger consumers belonging to this generation increase their engagement with news as they age.

In March 2020, in-home media consumption increased globally, and another survey by the same source held in May 2020 revealed that many consumers were still engaging with media at home more than usual. The data varied by country, with ** percent of Indian consumers and ** percent of Brazilians saying that they had begun creating or uploading videos at home since the outbreak, whereas the global average was just ** percent. Indian consumers were also more likely to be reading magazines or newspapers at home, whereas print media consumption in New Zealand and Romania was far below the global average. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

A global survey conducted in July 2020 found that Gen Z consumers were far more likely to watch more videos due to the coronavirus outbreak, with ** percent reporting an increase in consumption of videos for example on YouTube, compared to ** percent of Millennials and ** percent of Gen X consumers. There was also an increase in the share of Gen Z respondents listening to more streaming services, spending longer on messaging services and social media, and watching more news coverage. Gen Z were the most likely to have increased their usage of streaming services, with ** percent of respondents reporting watching more shows and films during the COVID outbreak.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

A global survey conducted in July 2020 investigated how media habits will change once the coronavirus outbreak is over, and found that ******* of Gen Z consumers were intending on continuing to watch online videos, compared to ** percent of Millennials, and just **** percent of Baby boomers. Social media and online streaming services were also more likely to retain high usage after the COVID-19 pandemic, with ** percent of those from Gen Z predicting they will continue to spend longer on social media.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

The number of social media users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 26 million users (+8.55 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the social media user base is estimated to reach 330.07 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of social media users of was continuously increasing over the past years.The shown figures regarding social media users have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

According to the results produced by a global survey conducted in March 2020, Gen Z consumers were far more likely to spend more time on messaging services at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, with ** percent saying that they using services like WhatsApp for longer than usual, compared to ** percent of Millennials and ** percent of Gen X consumers. Additionally, more Gen Z respondents were listening to more podcasts, reading more books or listening to more audiobooks, increasing their social media usage, and creating or uploading videos to the likes of Tik Tok or YouTube. Between ** and ** percent of consumers in all age groups were watching more news coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst Millennials were the most likely to be reading more newspapers or magazines than their younger or older peers.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

A global survey conducted in July 2020 found that consumers from the Philippines were far more likely to watch more videos due to the coronavirus outbreak, with ** percent reporting an increase in consumption of videos for example on YouTube, compared to ** percent of Indian consumers and ** percent of respondents from Brazil. Internationally there was a significant increase in the news coverage watched; the country with the largest increase was China with ** percent indicating an increase in consumption of news, compared to only ** percent of Americans, with the U.S. showing the smallest increase in watching the news.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

As of this date, approximately ** percent of the population in Indonesia watch videos online. In addition about ** percent of the respondents listen to music using streaming services. Podcasts have gained popularity, and is now more listened to than online radio stations.

As of the 3rd quarter of 2020 the most popular social media platform in Germany was WhatsApp, with 87 percent of internet-users surveyed claiming they used the app. YouTube came second with a 69 percent respondent share, followed by Facebook with 63 percent. Tumblr was the least-used platform, with only 3 percent of those surveyed stating they used the network.

Based on survey results from April 2020, media consumption generally increased in Finland due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Roughly half of the respondents increased their social media usage or the time spent on watching TV, while around 13 percent of them stated that their time spent on TV or social media increased significantly. At the same time, over 40 percent of the people spent more time with newspapers, whereas the consumption of audio media, and magazines grew less.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

During a 2025 survey, ** percent of respondents from Nigeria stated that they used social media as a source of news. In comparison, just ** percent of Japanese respondents said the same. Large portions of social media users around the world admit that they do not trust social platforms either as media sources or as a way to get news, and yet they continue to access such networks on a daily basis. Social media: trust and consumption Despite the majority of adults surveyed in each country reporting that they used social networks to keep up to date with news and current affairs, a 2018 study showed that social media is the least trusted news source in the world. Less than ** percent of adults in Europe considered social networks to be trustworthy in this respect, yet more than ** percent of adults in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia said that they got their news on social media. What is clear is that we live in an era where social media is such an enormous part of daily life that consumers will still use it in spite of their doubts or reservations. Concerns about fake news and propaganda on social media have not stopped billions of users accessing their favorite networks on a daily basis. Most Millennials in the United States use social media for news every day, and younger consumers in European countries are much more likely to use social networks for national political news than their older peers. Like it or not, reading news on social is fast becoming the norm for younger generations, and this form of news consumption will likely increase further regardless of whether consumers fully trust their chosen network or not.

According to the results of a survey conducted during the first week of a nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), the rate of social media consumption had gone up by almost 75 percent compared to the week preceding the lockdown. Overall, it was seen that people spent more time browsing the internet, whereas radio and out of home billboard media consumption had drastically dropped in the measured time period.

India went into a lockdown on March 25, 2020, the largest in the world, restricting 1.3 billion people, extended until May 3, 2020. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2019 and 2020, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to *** minutes per day, up from *** minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is the Philippines, with online users spending an average of ***** hours and ** minute on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just *** hours and ***** minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is nearly ** percent. Western Europe had a ** percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with *** and ***** 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 flipside, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.

During a March 2020 survey of social media users in the United States, **** percent of respondents stated that if confined to their homes during the coronavirus, they would use Instagram more during that period. YouTube and Facebook were also popular social platforms that users were estimating to increase their usage during physical distancing at home. Many counties and cities in the United States have called upon residents to stay at home during the global coronavirus pandemic and subsequently, internet users turn to digital video and video-on-demand platforms to keep them entertained. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In their survey, published by Visual Capitalist in April 2020, the Global Web Index surveyed internet users across the U.S. and the UK on the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on their media consumption. ** percent of Gen X respondents stated that they had started or had been watching more broadcast TV since the outbreak of the pandemic. Considerable increases in consumption could also been identified for radio and online TV/streaming (both ** percent) and online videos (** percent). Broadcast TV has also experienced by far the biggest increase of popularity within the generation of Baby boomers.