We wake up, and the first thing we do is check social media. We go to bed, and the last thing we do is check social media – not to mention the countless time we spend checking social media in between waking up and going to bed.
Social media is a huge part of all of our lives, that is not a question.
What is a question is how exactly do people use social media?
The Manifest recently conducted a survey on how people use social media, and not surprisingly, 86 percent of Americans use social media at least once per day – 72 percent multiple times per day.
If you use social media countless times throughout the day, you’re not alone.
People’s heavy usage of social media proves how essential it is for businesses to have a social media presence, too.
Facebook Is Still on Top
The majority of people use a variety of social media channels, but Facebook is still king – 82 percent of social media users visit Facebook at least once per week.
This compares to 75 percent of people who use YouTube at least once per week, 53 percent who use Instagram, 39 percent who use Snapchat, 38 percent who use Pinterest, and 36 percent who use Twitter.
Although Facebook remains the most-used channel, other channels are catching up, especially YouTube and Instagram.
When asked to name the channels they use more often in 2018 than they did in 2017, survey respondents said YouTube (63 percent), Instagram (61 percent) and Snapchat (38 percent).
Facebook is still growing, with 52 percent of people who use it more in 2018 than 2017, but YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are all growing more quickly.
It likely won’t happen anytime soon, but Facebook may someday be dethroned.
How People Access Social Media
Because people are so mobile, they use mobile apps to access social media the most – 67 percent of social media users access social media on mobile apps, compared to 57 percent on computer web browsers and 41 percent on mobile web browsers.
Fewer people access social media on tablet apps (31 percent), computer apps (28 percent), tablet web browsers (23 percent) and smartwatches (11 percent).
In addition, 46 percent of people prefer to access social media on mobile apps, and 26 percent prefer computer web browsers.
Mobile apps and computer web browsers makes sense – people spend most of their time attached to smartphones, and when they’re not, they’re likely on their computers at work, scrolling through social media that way.
Gender Divide in Social Media Use
Men and women tend to use social media differently: 75 percent of females use social media multiple times per day, compared to 64 percent of males.
Women use social media more often than men because women tend to be more social and communicative than men in general, and this translates to social media use, as well.
The gender differences don’t stop with frequency of social media use. There is also a gender divide in the channels people use.
More than 80 percent of both men and women use Facebook at least once per week, but more men than women use Twitter and Reddit.
More women than men, on the other hand, use Pinterest at least once per week.
In addition, women are more likely to prefer social media on mobile apps – 53 percent of women use social media on mobile apps most frequently, compared to 34 percent of men.
Men are more like to use computer web browsers (33 percent) most often, compared to 21 percent of women.
Businesses Must Use Social Media
These results show how important and prevalent social media is to most consumers’ lives.
People constantly use social media, so businesses must be on social media, too. After all, don’t you want to be where your customer is?
Businesses have no excuse to not have an extensive social media strategy. If they claim they don’t have the time or manpower, it’s easy to hire a social media agency.
People are on social media constantly – do you want them to remember seeing your competitor on social media when it’s time for them to make a purchase, or do you want them to remember you?