As the population of the world population clocks 8 billion and counting, let’s have a look into the social media addiction statistics.

Studies show that approximately 4.48 billion users are active across different social media platforms, which is more than half (~56%) of the total world population.

The last 12 months recorded almost 11-13% growth in social media users compared to the previous years.

These statistics get more interesting when we understand the rise in global smartphone usage compared to feature phones. 

Post Contents

Key Social Media Addiction Statistics 2024

  • On average, people spend 2-3 hours of their time on social media a day.
  • This is equal to almost five years of a person’s whole life span.
  • Recent studies show that more than 210 million people are affected by social media addiction.
  • 60% of people in the world have a phone
  • YouTube is the most used platform amongst teenagers
  • The average number of social media accounts per user is 8.4
  • Most social media platforms are for ages 13 and older
  • 22% of teens say they feel an emotional response to negative online feedback
  • 59% of teens are subjected to cyberbullying

Smartphone Usage Statistics 2024

60% of the world’s population use mobile phones. Among them, 48.1% have smartphones

v8Ja52A5Era48D6PVbTZj5ivjDer4Q3yXs5vdYy e4t7kNohqySR1beBuESt0NvKA 7IztJrc qBE1G06Ta z3IRDKm6in3t GGzKrKCm1nnSwnmDL CkV24MBaXpWl1XELaQNg=s0

The statistics show that by 2024 the count of smartphone users will cross 7 billion.

China comes first in the total number of smartphones, followed by India and the US.

Almost $200 billion advertising investments are made via smartphone applications until the year 2021, which shows the influence of smartphones in people’s day-to-day lives.

Which Social Media Application Is Most Used?

The wide acceptance of smartphones around the world expanded the social media coverage to more users.

The latest stats of July 2021 show 2.8 billion Facebook users, 2.2 billion YouTube users, 2.2 billion WhatsApp users, 1.38 billion Instagram users,1.3 billion Facebook Messenger users, and 0.73 billion Tiktok users are active today.

The most used social media app among the teenage group is YouTube, followed by Instagram, whereas TikTok is said to be the fastest influencing app for the age group of 16-24.

Important Social Media Addiction Statistics for 2024

In 2021, social media usage increased 13% compared to 2021.

It adds up to more than 0.5 billion users within just 12 months! 

image

On average, people spend 2-3 hours of their time on social media a day.

It covers almost five years of a person’s whole life span.

How Many People Are Addicted to Social Media?

Statistics show that more than 210 million people are affected by social media addiction.

Reports from various authorities confirm that almost half of road accidents occurred due to smartphones’ usage while driving.

Reaearch based on 46 countries shows that people from the Philippines spend approximately 4 hours of their daytime using various social networking sites.

The count of average social media accounts per user is 8.4.

image 3

The social media platforms artificially create gorgeous faces, ripped bodies, beautiful houses, cutest pets, excellent working conditions, perfect life partners, etc.

These are just part of their advertising made explicitly for the target audience.

But real people who regularly watch and follow such gimmicks get misled in life.

It will always make people feel that their lives are incomplete and will go behind things they really can’t afford.

Also, studies have shown that people who are most active on social media tend to be alone in real life.

They don’t have another life outside the social media world. This addiction keeps them away from physical world interactions.

Social Media Addiction Statistics about Teenagers

According to their terms and conditions, most social media platforms allow users from the age of 13 or more.

Teenagers spend more active time on social media compared to adults.

Studies point out that teenagers who use social media for 2-5 hours or more are vulnerable to mental health issues compared to others. 

Why Do Teenagers Spend More Time on Social Media?

 social media

Social media is a virtual world where teenagers can create an identity that they fantasize about to be real in the physical world.

They can create an account using their favorite movie character names and profile photos. They can express their ideas and views in discussion rooms without revealing their true identity.

It gives the opportunity to escape from the real issue that they face at least for some amount of time every day.

Social media can provide them with friends from different parts of the world despite age, sex, and language.

They can build their imaginary world with lies and deceptions to showcase themselves as the best version possible.

Such pleasures slowly get into them asking for more of their real-world time. 

In a study conducted on a group of students aged between 12-15, it was found that the teenagers who regularly use social media platforms tend to think that others are happier than them and their life is worthless compared to the happy people posing in social media posts.

But once these groups of teenagers were asked to spend real time with their friends dining outside and talking with each other, they became more happy and content.

Let’s check out some of key teenage social media addiction facts that must be acknowledged.

1. Gender Domination:  Female teenagers who are single are more addicted to social media than any other groups

2. No Goodnight Sleep: The majority of them keep their phone right next to the bed, and it is the first thing they check waking up in the morning.

3. Age-Group: The age group of 13-18 spends more social media time than any other age group.

4. Target Advertising: Teenagers are easily influenced by target advertising and marketing. For example, it’s very natural to have pimples at teenage due to hormone changes.

Medical studies have shown that keeping the face clean, drinking water, and good sleep can reduce the pimples naturally without any treatments.

But advertisements promote their medicines, face creams, and products by lurking on their insecurities. 

5. Aggression – Crime: Fake accounts can lure teenagers to do heinous actions and crimes by offering them gifts and money.

According to the Psychiatric Times, there was a case reported in Wisconsin in 2017 in which two teen girls stabbed their friend 19 times.

Upon interrogation, they said that the internet meme “Slenderman” made them do the crime.

6. Wrong Shepherd: Social media platforms contain lots of influencers. They have a huge fan base based on their photos and posts shared. But not all are good influencers.

Kids in their teenage time always look for their idols to follow. There are plenty of factors that can attract them to such accounts.

That can be money, power, social media reach, or anything that they find “cool”.

But the life message and morals that these influencers showcase can be antisocial and immoral.

7. Peer pressure: The comments and messages that teenagers may receive for their posts/photos on social media can put them under enormous pressure.

Adolescent psychiatrist says that wrong expectations and unwanted comparisons with other teenagers can deteriorate teenagers mental health.

Teenage Social Media Addiction May Lead To:

  1. Loneliness
  2. Lack of proper sleep 
  3. Shyness
  4. Depression
  5. Self-harming behaviors 
  6. Anxiety
  7. Lack of self-esteem 
  8. Disconnected feeling
  9. Boredom
  10. Suicidal tendencies 

Social Media’s Impact on Teenagers

Social media usage triggers a significant amount of dopamine(a neurotransmitter that creates the feeling of pleasure).

If their social media activities are well recognized in the form of likes and comments, teenagers get a positive feeling, and the lack of such appreciations creates anxiety.

Around 22% of the teens feel disturbed if their posts are not liked or commented positively.

image 4

According to a study made by CNN, teenagers who check their social networking accounts between 50-100 times a day become more stressed (37%) than others.

And when the count becomes higher, the stress level also increases.

The Newport Academy points out that 92% of the teens who use social networking applications check their accounts daily, and 24% tend to check them constantly in short intervals.

The Adverse Effects of Social Networking in Teenagers

1. Lack of proper sleep: Since sleep is a crucial part of their brain development, surveys have proved that teenagers who keep their phones near the bed spend less time sleeping and check their phones more than 10 times during the sleeping hours.

Lack of proper sleep can affect their mental and physical growth.

2. The photo-sharing apps like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat showcases celebrities from different industries.

Their photos and videos are created using various editing software to enhance the beauty of their body aesthetics. These polished photos and videos create poor body image feelings among teens. 

3. Lack of physical activity: Along with mental health, the body requires an adequate amount of physical exercise.

But teenagers addicted to social media are less likely to spend their time away from their smartphones and accessories.

4. Cyberbullying: According to statistics, 59% of teenagers are subjected to cyberbullying in social media. This includes false rumors, offensive names, inappropriate chats, receiving explicit images, etc.

5. Indirect communication: Teens who are experts in texting in social media can become introverts when it comes to a face to face talk.

It is easy to sit behind the screen and respond to any situation with the other party, whereas physical conversation requires more confidence to express their feelings.

Growing up without physical communication, teens can face confidence issues in their romantic and employment chapters of life.

6. Stalking: Teenagers using social media always try to update their current status by sharing where they are, what they do, and who all are with them.

Since such pieces of information are openly available, they can be stalked and even attacked by criminals.

Potentially 330 Million People will Deal with Internet Addiction in 2022

This is a pretty sobering statistic and according to a 2017 report, it is suggested that more than 200 million people around the world suffered from social media addiction.

Allowing for the increase in social media usage since 2017, there are probably a lot more people addicted to social media at this point.

According to statistics, as many as 10% of Americans meet the criteria for social media addiction currently.

With the American population currently being approximately 333 million people, this means that there could be as many as 33 million people addicted to social media in America alone.

4.88 billion Internet Users

Internet users grew by over 222 million over the year to the end of 2021, which means that there are now 4.88 billion users around the world.

This is 61.8% of the population of the world.

4.44 billion Mobile Internet Users

The majority of people around the world now have a mobile phone.

Currently, there are 4.44 billion people who use the Internet on their smartphone, which means that 92.9% of all Internet users use the Internet on their smartphones.

The majority of these phones are going to have the ability to connect to social media.

89.6% of everyone on the Internet has a smartphone which means that just 4.8% of people will have an old-school phone with buttons.

4.55 billion Active Social Media Users

Out of the 4.8 billion people who use the Internet, 4.55 billion of them are active on social media, which is 57.6% of the population of the world.

In the 12 months to October 2021, 409 million people joined social media.

Between the years 2017 and 2021, the number of people using the Internet increased by 29%, and the number of people using social media increased by 63%.

This means that there could be as many as 270 million people suffering from social media or Internet addiction.

2.7 billion Facebook Users

The most popular social apps are YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

As far as Facebook goes, there are 2.7 billion people using the social media app.

2 Hours and 27 Minutes Spent on Social Media Every Day

Social media addiction statistics indicate that Internet users aged between 16 and 64 spend an average of two hours and 27 minutes on social media every day.

In comparison, the same demographics spend an average of three hours and 21 minutes watching TV, 2 hours and 5 minutes reading media one hour and 35 minutes listening to music, one hour and one minute listening to radio, 57 minutes listening to a podcast, and one hour and 13 minutes playing video games.

All of these statistics were higher than the ones reported in April 2021, which indicates that people are spending more time at home, as a result of the pandemic.

Some Teens Spend Nine Hours a Day on Social Media

What’s pretty concerning is that teen spend even more time than their parents on social media.

Teenagers aged between 13 and 18 years old spend an average of three hours and one minute a day on social media.

However, there are some teens that spend as much as nine hours each day on social media, which is more time than they spend in school.

Facebook is Third Most Visited Site

According to statistics, Facebook has the third-most complete website traffic, coming in 3rd only after YouTube and Google.

During October of 2021, there were 11.2 billion visits to Facebook, and the average amount of time spent on Facebook was 21 minutes and 52 seconds.

Comparatively, YouTube received 14.1 billion visits, and the average time spent was 30 minutes and 56 seconds per visit.

This statistic might come as a surprise to you, but WhatsApp is actually one of the most popular social media platforms outside of China, with a preference of 23.3%.

Facebook is second at 22.2%, followed by Instagram in third with 20.6%.

There is no other social media platform in the world that has more than 5% support.

37.6% of Females and 31.2% of Males Between the Ages of 16 and 24 Prefer Instagram

When thinking about age across all of the different demographics, both males and females seem to prefer Instagram over other social media apps.

Just remember that this statistic doesn’t include those under the age of 16. 7.6% of females between the age of 16 and 24, and 3.7% of males between the ages of 16 and 24 say that they prefer TikTok.

A preference for Snapchat from this age demographic is even smaller, with it being the preferred social platform for just 3% of females aged between 6 and 24, and 2.6% of males.

85% of Teens Use YouTube, but Prefer Snapchat

Statistics indicate that 85% of teenagers are on YouTube, but interestingly, the majority of them say that they prefer using Snapchat.

85% of teenagers are on YouTube, followed by 72% on Instagram, 69% on Snapchat, and 51% on Facebook.

However, 35% of teenagers say that Snapchat was their favorite platform. YouTube was in second at 32%, with Instagram in third at 15%, and Facebook in 4th at 10%.

Kids Spend 75 Minutes a Day on TikTok

Statistics indicate that kids spent quite a bit of time on TikTok.

TikTok has increased in popularity over the last few years, and as a result, the average child in 2020 used TikTok for an average of 75 minutes a day.

This was an increase of 38 minutes in 2019.

Instagram was in second place with 44 minutes, followed by Snapchat in 3rd place at 39 minutes, Pinterest in fourth place at 17%, Facebook in 5th place at 17%, and Twitter at 13%.

TikTok is the Most Blocked Social App by Parents

TikTok is also well known for something else, being blocked by parents. It was the social media app most blocked by parents in 2020, unlike in 2019, when it was Instagram.

This is potentially a result of the recognition by some parents that social media can be extremely addictive, and they are attempting to keep their child’s social media addiction under control.

As far as other social media apps that were blocked in 2020, in third was Snapchat, then 4th Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Kids are Spending 76% Longer on Social Media Apps

The pandemic and lockdowns resulted in children spending more time on social media.

Minutes watched on social media apps peaked in May 2020, when lockdowns from COVID were most widespread.

In general, kids spent 76% longer on social media apps in 2020, compared to 2019.

Many Teenagers Sleep with their Phones by Their Bed

Four out of five teens choose to keep their mobile device in their room while they sleep.

68% of teens say that they take their devices to bed, and a third of teens say that they sleep with their phone in their bed.

Over a third of teens and over a quarter of parents wake up and check their phones for something other than the time at least once during the night, and girls tend to sleep with their phones more than boys, at 33%, versus 20%.

Generation Z Social Media Anxiety Increased by 15% in 2020

Between the start of 2020, and the end of 2020, Generation Z said that their anxiety around social media increased by 15%.

37% of Generation Z say that they are concerned that they spend too much on time on social media, compared to 28% of millennials, 22% of generation X, and just 16% of baby boomers.

The Number of Adolescents Reporting Depression Increased by 52% in 12 Months

Data has indicated that more American young adults and adolescents experienced serious depression, psychological distress, or even suicidal thoughts in the late 2010, compared to in the mid-2000s, and more tried suicide.

There was also a 52% increase in depression between 2005 and 2017 among adolescents.

There was a 71% increase in young adults experiencing psychological distress from 2008 to 2017, and the number of young adults that experienced suicidal thoughts increased 47% from 2008 to 2017.

What’s interesting is that there was no serious increase in the percentage of older adults experiencing psychological distress or depression during the same periods.

27% of Children who Spend More Than Three Hours a Day on Social Media Have Poor Mental Health

It is estimated that 27% of children who spend more than three hours a day on social media experience symptoms of poor mental health.

They say that overusing social networking sites is much more challenging in children and young adults, because their social skills and brains are still developing.

Adolescents who use social media from a young age have stunted social skills when it comes to interaction.

They also have increased social anxiety, higher rates of depression, a negative outlook when it comes to body image, and lower levels of compassion and empathy.

The Majority of Teens with Decreased Social Wellbeing Feel Left Out When on Social Media

Social media addiction statistics indicate that social media exacerbates bad feelings of teens with low social emotional well-being, compared to those that have better social emotional well-being.

70% said that they sometimes felt left out when using social media, and 43% said that they deleted social media posts because they didn’t get enough likes.

43% said that they felt bad about themselves, if nobody liked or commented on their post, and 35% said that they had experienced cyberbullying.

FAQs

How Many People Have Social Media Addiction in 2022?

According to a report in 2017, it is estimated that 210 million people around the world experience social media and internet addiction.

Why Has Social Media Got Bad Statistics?

Stats indicate that 88% of teenagers have witnessed someone being mean or cruel to somebody else on social media.

41% of teenagers say that they have reported experiencing a negative environment as a result of social media, and some teenagers have lost friends over things that they’ve done on social media.

What Gender Is More Addicted to Social Media?

Males tend to be more addicted to social media than females.

However, research indicates that females suffer more when it comes to academic performance as a result of social media.

How Do You Score Social Media Addiction?

You can score social media addiction in a number of different ways.

One specific study found that heavy social media users were three times more likely to feel socially isolated.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are some pretty sobering percentages when it comes to social media addiction statistics.

It is clear that a number of factors over the last few years have exacerbated this problem, including an increase of social media apps, the wide availability of smartphones, and the recent pandemic, in conjunction with its restrictions and lockdowns.

There’s no doubt that there are millions people out there that are suffering from social media addiction, and hopefully in the future that they can get the help they need, and learn how to live a more balanced and healthy life.

This way, the younger generation can give their brains the opportunity to develop well, so that they can have good social skills as adults.

Sources

FameMassInfluencer Marketing HubMediakix
TruelistBacklinkoHootsuite
New Port AcademyShepherds Hill AcademyChild Mind
Psychiatric TimesScience DirectAddiction Center
Data ReportalPew ResearchQustodio
GWIAJPM Online