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Graphic shows time spent on social media and increase in users since 2014.
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LEISURE

Global surge of social media use

By Duncan Mil

June 26, 2019 - People in the Philippines spend the most time on social media, according to a survey of 31 countries by GlobalWebIndex, gazing at their mobiles for a daily average of four hours and 11 minutes. Japanese users devote the least time, averaging just 39 minutes a day.

Worldwide internet users spend an average of 2 hours 22 minutes per day on social networks and messaging, with 16-24s devoting the most time per day to social media -- a significant 3 hours 1 minute, on average.

As social networks have evolved into multi-media platforms, digital consumers are now as likely to use them for keeping up with the news as to stay in touch with friends. 16-24-year-olds show slightly different preferences; their most cited motivations for using social media are to fill up spare time and find entertaining content.

Over the past four years, the number of social media users has surged by more than 180 per cent, from 1.857 billion in 2014 to 3.484 billion in the third quarter of 2018, according to the social media management platform, Hootsuite. Global social media users now number more than the combined populations of China, India and the United States.

The imminent rollout of 5G networks around the world will open media consumption, with users being able to seamlessly stream data-heavy applications, from gaming and videos to virtual and augmented reality. 5G networks will have very low latency -- very responsive with no delay -- and promise to unlock a new level of immersive video.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 26/06/2019; STORY: Graphic News
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