What is the average time spent on social media each day?

By: Robin Geuens

Last updated: September 17, 2024

Fact checked

Cite this research SOAX. (2024, September 5). What's the average time spent on social media each day? SOAX. https://soax.com/research/time-spent-on-social-media

Research highlights: On average, people spend about 143 minutes (that's 2 hours and 23 minutes) on social media every day. That's almost 2.5 hours per day spent scrolling through different platforms. Teenagers are the biggest users, especially teenage girls, who spend nearly 3 hours a day on social media.

Related research: How many people use social media? | How many users does Instagram have? | How many users does Facebook have? | What's the average age of a TikTok user? | How many users does Telegram have?

What is the average time spent on social media each day?

  • In 2024, people spent about 5.3% less time on social media compared to 2023, averaging 143 minutes a day

  • From 2013 to 2024, the daily time on social media jumped from 90 minutes to 143 minutes, which is an increase of 53 minutes overall

  • The biggest jump in social media use happened in 2016, with a 15.32% rise, making the daily average 128 minutes

  • In 2020 and 2021, the time people spent on social media didn't change at all, staying steady at 145 minutes a day

  • From 2012 to 2019, there was a steady increase in social media use, going up by about 4.42 minutes per day each year

  • Social media use hit its highest in 2023 at 151 minutes a day, while the lowest was back in 2012 at 90 minutes a day, showing a 67.78% increase over that time

Year Minutes / day Change
2024 143 ↓ -5.3%
2023 151 ↑ 2.72%
2022 147 ↑ 1.38%
2021 145 ↓ 0%
2020 145 ↓ 0%
2019 145 ↑ 2.11%
2018 142 ↑ 5.97%
2017 134 ↑ 4.69%
2016 128 ↑ 15.32%
2015 111 ↑ 6.73%
2014 104 ↑ 9.47%
2013 95 ↑ 5.56%
2012 90 –

 

 

time spent on social media - social media use per day

Source : soax.com

How long do people stay on social media?

  • People stay on YouTube the longest, with people spending around 7 minutes and 25 seconds per session

  • TikTok is next, with users sticking around for about 5 minutes and 56 seconds each time they open the app, showing it's pretty engaging

  • Facebook users spend about 3 minutes and 42 seconds per session, making it third in line for session duration

  • Pinterest and X (Twitter) both have the same average session time of 2 minutes and 11 seconds, so user engagement is pretty similar on these two platforms

  • YouTube sessions are roughly 25% longer than TikTok's and about 100.45% longer than Facebook's

  • Instagram users spend noticeably less time per session (2 minutes 44 seconds) compared to Facebook, with about 1 minute less each time they use the app

Platform Average Session Duration (Minutes)
YouTube 0:07:25
TikTok 0:05:56
Facebook 0:03:42
Instagram 0:02:44
Pinterest 0:02:11
X (Twitter) 0:02:11
Snapchat 0:01:23
Telegram 0:01:21
Line 0:01:21
LinkedIn 0:01:13
WhatsApp 0:01:06
F. Messenger 0:01:06

 

 

time spent on social media - average session length

Source : soax.com

How much time is spent on each social media platform per month?

  • TikTok is the top app for monthly usage, with people spending about 34 hours on it

  • YouTube comes next, with users spending around 28 hours and 5 minutes each month, which is about 5 hours and 55 minutes less than TikTok

  • TikTok users spend roughly 21.07% more time on the app compared to YouTube users

  • Facebook users are on the platform for about 19 hours and 47 minutes each month, putting it in third place for monthly usage

  • LinkedIn has the least usage, with people spending just 51 minutes a month on it

Platform Time Spent (Hours)
TikTok 34:00:00
YouTube 28:05:00
Facebook 19:47:00
WhatsApp Messenger 17:06:00
Instagram 15:50:00
Line 8:14:00
X (Twitter) 4:40:00
Telegram 3:45:00
Snapchat 3:33:00
Facebook Messenger 3:21:00
Pinterest 1:49:00
LinkedIn 0:51:00

 

 

time spent on social media - hours per month on social media

Source : soax.com

What's the average time spent on social media by age & gender?

  •  Women aged 16-24 have the biggest social media usage, spending about 2 hours and 59 minutes a day on it

  • The least time spent on social media is by men and women aged 55-64, with women at 1 hour and 46 minutes and men at 1 hour and 31 minutes a day

  • The biggest difference in daily social media use is in the 45-54 age group, where women spend 18 minutes more per day than men

  • The smallest gender gap is in the 35-44 age group, with women only spending 4 minutes more per day than men

  • Overall, women spend more time on social media daily than men across all age groups

  • The general trend shows that social media use gradually drops as people get older, with the biggest drop happening between the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups.

 

Age Group Female (hours) Male (hours)
16 - 24 years 2:59 2:32
25 - 34 years 2:48 2:31
35 - 44 years 2:21 2:17
45 - 54 years 2:10 1:52
55 - 64 years 1:46 1:31

 

 

time spent on social media - Social media use by age and gender

Source : soax.com

How many social media platforms do people use?

  • People aged 16-24 use the most social media platforms, with women using about 7.5 and men using 7.3 on average

  • On the flip side, the 55-64 age group uses the fewest platforms, with women at 5.2 and men at 5.1 on average

  • The smallest difference between how many platforms men and women use is in the 35-44 and 55-64 age groups

  • Both men and women are most active on multiple platforms in the 16-24 age group and least active in the 55-64 age group

 

Age Group Female Male
16 - 24 years 7.5 7.3
25 - 34 years 7.2 7.1
35 - 44 years 6.7 6.7
45 - 54 years 5.8 6
55 - 64 years 5.2 5.1

 

 

time spent on social media - number of apps used

Source : soax.com

 How many people use social media?
  •  In 2024, there are expected to be about 5.17 billion social media users
  • By 2028, that number is projected to hit 6.05 billion worldwide
  • The biggest jump in user numbers happened in 2020, with an 11.4% increase
  • Since 2020, the growth rate has been slowing down each year. From 2023 to 2028, it's expected to drop from 6.75% to 3.42%
  • By 2024, the number of social media users will have passed the 5 billion mark

For more information check our related research: How many people use social media?

year SM Users ( in billion) Change
2028* 6.05 ↑ 3.42%
2027* 5.85 ↑ 3.54%
2026* 5.65 ↑ 4.24%
2025* 5.42 ↑ 4.84%
2024 5.17 ↑ 5.51%
2023 4.9 ↑ 6.75%
2022 4.59 ↑ 7.75%
2021 4.26 ↑ 8.95%
2020 3.91 ↑ 11.4%
2019 3.51 –

 

 

time spent on social media - social media users globally

Source : soax.com

Why do people use social media?

  •  Most people use social media to stay connected with friends and family, with about 49.50% saying that's their main reason

  • A lot of users, around 38.50%, hop on social media when they have some free time to kill

  • Reading news is a big reason for 34.20% of users

  • About 30.20% of people use social media to find interesting content like articles and videos

  • Around a quarter of users are into e-commerce and getting inspiration for things to buy or do

  • And while it's a smaller group, a good number of people use social media to share updates about their lives and follow influencers

 

Reason Percentage (%)
Keeping in touch with friends and family 49.50%
Filling spare time 38.50%
Reading news stories 34.20%
Finding content (e.g., articles, videos) 30.20%
Seeing what's being talked about 28.70%
Finding inspiration for things to do and buy 26.70%
Finding products to purchase 26.10%
Sharing and discussing opinions with others 22.70%
Watching live streams 22.70%
Making new contacts 22.50%
Seeing content from your favorite brands 22.10%
Watching or following sports 22.00%
Work-related networking or research 21.30%
Following celebrities or influencers 20.10%
Posting about your life 19.70%

 

 

time spent on social media - reasons for using social media

Source : soax.com

Sources