How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media in 2024? (New Stats)

It’s no lie that social media plays a big role in our lives these days, because it is always there, from the moment that we wake up the morning, until the moment that we fall asleep in the evening, a lot of the time with our phone right beside us.

However, you are probably wondering how much time people spend on social media compared with yourself, and which apps get the most users. If you are dying to know the answers to these questions, read on.

When it comes to answering the second question, it is probably obvious to anybody who has a current online presence that apps like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger have become associated with the words ‘Social Media’.

To get a good idea of what we’re talking about, let’s check out what we think are some pretty impressive statistics around social media time use.

Key Statistics

• 4.2 billion people around the globe use or have used social media
• 81% of people spend more time on social media because of COVID
• Some teens spend as many as 9 hours a day on social media
• The average American spends 2 hours and 32 minutes a day on social media
• 270 million people experience addiction to social media
• Teens spend an average of 3 hours and 1 minute a day on social media
• Just over 50% of the time is spent on smartphones were spent on social media apps in 2020.
• Facebook is by far the most popular, because people on average spend 38 minutes a day on their Facebook app. Compare this to YouTube, which takes up only 40 minutes of the average user’s day, and then 30 minutes for Snapchat.
• You might be surprised to learn that Instagram near the last in this lineup, averaging 28 minutes a day. You might not be supposed to learn that Pinterest brings up the rear, with just 14 minutes a day.

These are some pretty outstanding statistics, especially considering that there are just over 3 billion people that actively use social networks.

How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media in 2024?

The average American spends 2 hours and 32 minutes a day on social media.

This is the same average that was recorded back in 2019 but compare it back to 2012 when it was just one hour, and you can see that people are spending more time on social media.

Back in 2020, people on Facebook spent just 30 minutes a day on the Facebook app. This means that people are spending less time on Facebook as the younger generation is increasingly turning their focus to other forms of social media.

Apps like Instagram and TikTok are becoming favorites among Generation Z and what’s really interesting is that Facebook has lost 15 million members since 2017.

Speaking of 2017, back then the average amount of time that you would probably spend on Facebook was 41 minutes.

In 2018, this number had gone down to 38 minutes, but what’s interesting is that it increased again in 2019 at 58 minutes.

Just over 50% of the time people spend on their smartphones is done through social media. Out of the entire population of the world which is 7.75 billion, 5.19 billion people are on phones.

In 2020, 4.5 billion people were actively using the Internet, and 4.2 billion of them were using it on their mobile.

This means that the smartphone has become a pretty important tool for how we interact when we are online.

Let’s jump to YouTube for a second. People using YouTube spend an average of 11 minutes and 24 seconds a day on the platform.

With 2 billion active users every month, this means that more than 5 billion videos are being watched every day. This is approximately 1 billion hours’ worth of video every day.

YouTube is the second biggest search engine, second only to Google, and it is the most visited website in the world.

The majority of visits to YouTube come through mobile, at 70%. YouTube’s biggest market is based in America, at 14.8% and its second biggest market is India, at 8.1%.

The average adult in America spends 24 minutes a day on YouTube.

People on TikTok spend an average of 45 minutes a day using the app. TikTok is one of those really interesting social media platforms, because it has grown exponentially over the last couple of years.

It got started back in 2017, and throughout its short-term tenure, it has been successful at amassing 800 million active users and has managed to achieve more than 1.5 billion downloads.

It is the seventh most downloaded app over the last decade, and TikTok’s main target market is Generation Z, but you might be surprised to learn that there are people in all age groups that make the most of this social media sharing app.

Statistics revealed that in 2018, people were spending an average of 52 minutes on their TikTok app. There has been a slight decrease in this statistic in 2021.

When it comes to WhatsApp, people are opening the app between 23 and 25 times a day. WhatsApp is actually tied with YouTube, because it is the second most popular social media app with Facebook being the first.

WhatsApp can be found on the majority of smartphones around the world, and right now, there are 65 billion messages that are sent every day on WhatsApp.

This is quite an increase from 43 billion in 2017.

When talking about Snapchat, you can expect there to be a lot of people interested in the app, as it has gone from strength to strength since its inception, even with competitors like Instagram and Facebook.

Users are still spending an average of 30 minutes a day on Snapchat.

Its user base is more than 265 million, which means that it is still one of the most preferred social media sharing apps for the younger generation.

Its biggest target demographic is America, where it has more than 46 million active users every month.

It is also the preferred app for 53% of Internet users that are aged between 15 and 25 years old.

Now, let’s talk about Instagram.

Instagram is also incredibly popular amongst its users, who spend an average of 28 minutes on the platform every day.

When it comes to American teens, 72% are active on the app.

Again, like Snapchat, its most extensive user base is in America, with 121 million users.

Around the world, Instagram has more than a billion people using the app. This is a pretty mind-blowing stat.

Instagram is the 4th most-used mobile app. This makes sense, considering Instagram is mainly a mobile platform. Facebook comes in first, with WhatsApp in second, and Facebook Messenger in third.

90% of the American population knows what Twitter is. This means that the average person in America knows what Twitter is, even if they don’t personally use it.

To compare, 95% are aware of Facebook, and 91% know about Instagram.

How Much Time Do People Spend on Facebook?

In January 2021, 4.2 billion people used social media, and 2.8 billion of these people used Facebook. It is one of the biggest social media platforms, and it is primarily used for networking.

However, another aspect of Facebook is being able to view videos and images, which has been an intrinsic part of the social media networking site for a long time.

This is why in 2021, people spent an average of 33 minutes a day on the Facebook app.

Generally speaking, this involves one long visit, and then a lot of shorter ones. However, this has gone down because in 2018, it was 58 minutes a day.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, because 98% of all people that visit Facebook access it through their phone. This network alone is a big reason why the average time spent on a smartphone increases every year.

You can scroll through your newsfeed no matter where you are. What’s interesting is to compare this statistic with a computer statistic. Just 1.7% of people check their Facebook profile through their computer.

If you want to find out more about how much time you spend on Facebook, you can find the tab that says ‘your time on Facebook’, which will be under settings.

You are also going to be able to figure out if you are spending more time than your friends on Facebook, which is a nice reminder that there is more to life than scrolling through your newsfeed.

How Much Time Do People Spend on YouTube?

YouTube comes in at a solid second for the category of most used social media. 79% of people on the Internet have a YouTube account, with Facebook being 85%.

However, when it comes to this streaming and video platform, it’s got the most active users, with 86% of people on the Internet using it frequently.

Most of the people using YouTube on a regular basis say that entertainment is the main reason that they do.

Research has shown that out of a group of users in the UK aged between three and 16 years old, 10% of them watched more than three hours of YouTube every day.

The average person spends 11 minutes and 24 seconds a day using YouTube. What’s interesting is this is actually a decrease from 38 minutes a day back in 2017.

We can only hope that YouTube can regain its momentum in the future at some point. Another thing that’s interesting about YouTube is where people are watching it from.

70% of people using YouTube tend to do it on their tablet or smartphone, and YouTube itself said that 1.8 billion people spent one hour a day on average watching videos on their smartphones back in 2018.

In August 2018, the social media and video streaming giant let its users work out how much time they’re spending on the platform every day. You can check this out for yourself.

How Much Time Do People Spend on Facebook Messenger?

58% of people in America use social media to remain connected to their friends and family. Of course, this isn’t surprising, considering WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have such high rates of usage.

When it comes to Facebook Messenger, 72% of people on the Internet use it, and when it comes to WhatsApp, it is 66%. After all, we are social beings, and we crave connection with others.

We predict that the time spent on social media is only going to increase. Statistics show that Americans spend an average of 9.36 minutes a day on Facebook Messenger.

The majority of people that are using Facebook Messenger access it through their mobile phone, with just a small percentage using it on their computer. Some people even use it through their Apple Watch.

How Much Time Do People Spend on WhatsApp?

Yes, Facebook Messenger has more users on WhatsApp, but this has changed recently. WhatsApp has now more than two billion people using it actively around the world.

Statistics show that an estimated 2 billion minutes are spent making calls every day on WhatsApp. It is considered the top messaging app in more than 180 countries around the world.

Back in 2016, American users spent an average of 24 minutes a day on WhatsApp. Back then, the total amount of people on WhatsApp was 18 million. In 2020, 74 million Americans used WhatsApp.

So, if you are someone who’s asked yourself how much time are we spending on social media at some point, as you can see, the figures are astronomical.

And as we mentioned before, they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down, especially when it comes to apps like WhatsApp.

How Much Time Do People Spend on Instagram?

Back in 2019, Instagram managed to amass more than 1 billion users around the world. Right now, that number is sitting closer to 1.22 billion.

This means that 11% of people that use the Internet at all have an Instagram profile. The average time spent on Instagram for adults is 30 minutes a day.

You can compare this to back in 2019 when the average amount of time was just 15 minutes. Also, keep in mind that this is the average time, and doesn’t refer to people who are really active.

People mostly use Instagram for entertainment purposes, but it also has a really good messaging feature.

It might not have the kind of popularity that WhatsApp has when it comes to messaging, but it’s still a great way to stay in touch with friends and family.

How Much Time Do People Spend on Twitter?

3% of American teenagers say that Twitter is their most-used social app. In 2021, there were 187 million active users on Twitter. When you divide this by gender, it was 68.5% male, and 31.5% female.

Time spent on social media also shows that the biggest demographic is between the ages of 24 and 35.

The majority of people access their Twitter profiles through their mobile phones, sitting at 80%. We think that at this point we can safely say that Twitter focuses on adults as their main target demographic.

Final Thoughts

If you are active on social media, then you will know that there are many things that you can do through the variety of different social media apps available today.

Whether you want to check on what your friends are doing, fill up some free time that you’ve got, see what your ex is up to, eventually become famous with your content, or just find the right outfit for your Saturday night out, social media has become a big part of our everyday lives.

It can affect our personal preferences, and it can also determine where we go, and what we eat.

Not only is it interesting to know “how much time do people spend on social media” in general, but it’s also interesting to know from a business point of view.

Brands are more aware now than ever that social media can really make or break the success of their business, and they’re trying to capitalize on this movement as much as possible.

With so much money to make from users, these apps are only going to get bigger, the real question is how we are going to continue to use them.

If you use them in the right way, you are going to have a powerful tool on your hands that can inspire and uplift.

How much time do people spend on social media in 2024? A lot— possibly too much.

Sources

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YouTube Statistics 2024: How Many People Use YouTube? How Many People Use Instagram in 2024? (Instagram Statistics) WhatsApp Statistics 2024: Demographics & Facts 22+ Key Facebook Messenger Statistics for 2024