Consumers Spend 3+ Hours on Social Media Daily: What They're Doing on Each Platform [Data]
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Have you ever been hypnotized by social media? According to our recent Consumer Trends survey, users of it spend an average of three hours a day there.
It’s easy to fall into a social media trap, filled with endless distraction. One minute you’re checking a DM and the next thing you know you’ve spent an hour watching videos of corgis playing fetch.
But, it does make you wonder what consumers actually do while spending all that time on social media. And — as a marketer — you’re likely going a step further by asking: “What’s my target audience doing on there?”
Why Consumers Use (& Love) Social Media
Before asking social media users what the heck they’re doing on social media all day, we asked them to choose the top three reasons they log on in the first place.
And considering the average social media user spends three hours a day on their platforms of choice, it’s no surprise that they log on to do a bit of everything there:
In digging deeper, we determined the top three reasons users log on to each major social media platform:
While Facebook and Instagram are mainly used to share content from our lives and keep up with family, users turn to TikTok and YouTube for entertainment, education, and inspiration. We also have Twitter and LinkedIn, the only platforms that are primarily used to keep up with news and trends.
With that in mind, we can dive a little deeper into the top reasons people use each of these platforms.
What Social Media Users Do on Each Platform
Facebook users primarily keep up with loved ones — but also like to share media on their feeds.
Facebook — used by 69% of U.S. adults is the most popular social media app on our list.
Two in three Facebook users are on it to keep up with friends and family, 43% use it to share pictures and videos, and 26% go to Facebook simply for entertainment. About one in five lean on Facebook for news or trends, as well as to learn new things. 
YouTube users seek out entertainment, education, and inspirational content.
YouTube is the second most popular social media platform, used by 57% of U.S. adults. Edutainment thrives on YouTube – the top reasons people visit are to find entertaining content, learn new things, find inspiration, and keep up with news and trends. About one in five YouTubers use the app to keep up with brands and products.
Instagrammers share multimedia content while keeping up with friends, family, and celebrities.
45% of American adults use Instagram, and the top uses are to share pictures/videos (38%), to keep up with friends and family (33%), …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
