Think quick: how much time did you spend on social media yesterday? Perhaps a few visits to Facebook, posting a photo or two to Instagram, swinging by Twitter to catch the latest news… If you’re like the average American, you probably spend around two hours a day on these platforms. Totaled up, that’s more than five years of your life dedicated to social media. By comparison, you’re only likely to spend about one year and three months connecting with friends and family in real life – a pretty shocking reality.
And, on the verge of the holidays and the opportunity for lots of friends and family time – in real life and via social media – this is great food for thought.
Television Has a Leg up on Social – For Now
According to The New York Times, the average person spends about five hours watching television each day. For today’s standards, television includes streaming services like Netflix, but five hours a day is still a pretty incredible number. People over 50 dominate the television watching cohort and in all other demographics the average time spent watching television is dipping.
Facebook Still Dominates the Social Space
Especially during the holidays when pictures of beautiful decorations, tasty treats and frosty landscapes are pulling everyone into Instagram, Facebook is still the platform of choice. More than 68 percent of adults are on Facebook, while only 28 percent are on Instagram. It will be fascinating to see how these numbers trend in the New Year.
Social Media Over Daily Basics
Eating and drinking, self-grooming, socializing and doing laundry are all outpaced by time spent on social media. The five years that the average American will devote to social media is significantly more than the average of two years you’ll spend on activities like haircuts and beard trims.
Interested in more revelations regarding how your social habits stack up against the average social media user? Check out this interesting article from Entrepreneur, and take a minute (we know you’ve got about two hours planned…) to shoot us a note and let us know how you spend your time on social!
