Although the social media landscape is seeing a decade of continuous user growth, the time people spend on social media platforms shows a different trend. In Q1 2024, the social media space counted five billion users, 200 million more than last year. However, the average time this massive user base spent on social media platforms has again dropped.
According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, the average time internet users spend on social media has been decreasing for four straight quarters to two hours and 20 minutes.
Social Media Usage Time has Dropped by Almost Ten Minutes in Two Years
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok consume a huge chunk of the free time of an average person. Over the past decade, billions of people have turned to social media instead of other media sources to find content, entertain, and communicate with others, and that hasn`t changed in 2024. According to Data Reportal Digital 2024 Global Statshot Report, almost half of all social media users use these platforms to keep in touch with friends and family. Around 40% of people use social media to fill their spare time, while roughly one-third do so to read the news and find other interesting content.
However, what has changed is the time people spend on these platforms. In Q4 2023, internet users spent an average of two hours and 20 minutes using social media daily, three minutes less than in the previous quarter. Moreover, the Data Reportal survey showed this was the fourth consecutive quarter of social media usage drop. In Q1 2023, when the downsizing trend started, people spent an average of two hours and 26 minutes on social media. However, a comparison with 2021 figures shows an even more significant difference.
Statistics show internet users spent an average of two hours and 29 minutes on social media in Q4 2021, or nine minutes more compared to the latest data.
Kenyans Spend the Most Time on Social Media, Almost Four Hours Daily, and Japanese the Least
The DataReportal survey also showed huge regional differences in social media usage time. For instance, Kenyans spend the most time on social media platforms, or an average of three hours and 55 minutes. South Africans follow with eleven minutes less than that. Brazil, the Philippines, and Colombia follow, with around three and a half hours each.
Americans stand close to the world`s average, with two hours and 21 minutes spent on social media daily, just like Indians. Statistics show Britons spend almost half an hour less than that, ranking in the middle of this list. Germany and France were both above the global average, with one hour and 48 minutes and one hour and 40 minutes, respectively.
On the other hand, Japanese have the slightest interest in social media platforms. Statistics show the Japanese spent an average of 55 minutes on social media daily, the shortest time globally and the only nation with an average spending time of less than an hour.
