In today’s world, social media is more than a productivity killer: it’s perhaps the most influential communication medium we have. The responsibility of companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter has been a subject of national dialogue, particularly these last few months on the backdrop of the Russia election investigation and ongoing privacy concerns. Aiming to see just how influential social media is, Comparably asked people how much time they spend per day on social media.
More than 10,000 workers across the tech industry participated in the query.
Most people say they are on social media no more than an hour a day
Eighty-three percent of respondents say they are on social media for less than an hour a day. Breaking it down further, 36% of people say they’re on 15 minutes or less; 25% say they’re on 15 to 30 minutes; and 23% say they’re on 30 minutes to an hour. Just 10% say they’re on 1 to 2 hours; and another 7% say they’re on at least 2 hours a day.
Social media use isn’t all that different between the youngest and oldest workers
While there are significant differences in the percentage of people who use social media 15 minutes or less (28% of those aged 18 to 25 vs. 44% of those aged 51 to 55), the overall breakdown between the two age groups is similar enough: a total of 76% of 18 to 25-year-olds spend an hour at most on social media per day, compared to a total of 86% of 51 to 55-year-olds.
18 to 25
51 to 55
Men and women spend an almost identical amount of time on social media
The split between men and women was nearly identical, with “15 minutes or less” coming out as the most popular individual answer. The only difference was that men reported “15 minutes to 30 minutes” as their number 2 answer, while women reported “30 minutes to 1 hour” as their number 2 answer.
The data above is as of Feb. 7.
