The average internet user has seven social media accounts

Now spending more than two hours per day on over seven different social platforms, web users have never been so addicted to social media, according to data from the “GWI Social” report from analysts at GlobalWebIndex.

The study reports that, across all age groups, 98% of web users polled use at least one social network. On average, they have 7.6 active accounts and, unsurprisingly, young people (16 to 34 years old) tend to have more accounts (8.7 on average) than people over the age of 55 (4.6 accounts), although older users are still highly active on social media.

Globally, the highest number of accounts per user can be found in Latin America (8.8) and in Asia (8.1). According to the report, each web user spends an average two hours and 15 minutes per day on social networks and online messaging platforms.

Web users are now using social networks to keep up with the news as well as staying in touch with friends. Plus, video watching on social media remains a growing trend. In fact, 56% of Facebook users polled said they watched at least one video online in the last month, as did around four in 10 users of Instagram or Snapchat.

As for online purchases via social networks, despite many using the platforms to research products, just 13% of 16-to 24-year-olds said that a “Buy” button would encourage them to make purchases on social media, a figure that drops with age.

Finally, social media users’ level of engagement continues to grow, now reaching 90 percent. Engagement was reportedly highest in the Middle East and Africa (97%) and lowest in Europe (87%). While younger users again score highest (95%), engagement among over 55s was still 78%.

The report is based on insights from GlobalWebIndex’s Q2 2017 wave of research across 40 countries, polling 89 029 web users, aged 16-to 64-years-old, with surveys completed online.

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