TV has to fight many more battlefronts
TORONTO – New research from Solutions Research Group (SRG) shows more than four of every five online Canadians – approximately 22.9 million people – currently use at least one social media network, with more than a quarter (28%) using three or more.
Canadians now spend approximately 90 minutes per day – about 10 hours per week – with social media according to the independent and syndicated Q3 2016 edition of SRG’s Social Media Trend Update. While that lags well behind the 27.6 hours per week spent with TV, social media time has risen steadily over the past three years, according to SRG.
(Ed note: That doesn’t even take into account how well Canadians are paying attention while the TV is on – since they often are Snapchatting, Facebooking, Tweeting or Instagramming, with their favourite TV show as background noise…)
And social media is very engaging for Canadians: the average social media user has two feeds, which they check a total of 17 times a day – about once every hour they are awake.
While Facebook remains the most popular social media portal, SRG’s research suggests the emergence of several potential challengers for the crown, particularly among younger Canadians.
More than 80% of online Canadians use Facebook in a typical month – more than twice that of Twitter (34%) and Instagram (33%) – although the 12-year-old network is beginning to show its age. The typical Facebook user is now 41-years-old, highest among the major social media networks. More than one-quarter (29%) of Facebook’s users are now aged 50 and over.
At the other end of the spectrum, nearly two-thirds of Snapchat users (59%) are between the ages of 12-29, with an average age of 28. The five-year-old multimedia messaging and social app is also “stickier” than other social media channels, with users checking their feed an average of 9.1 times per day, compared with 8.2 times for Twitter, 7.8 times for Instagram and 7.5 times for Facebook.
Snapchat is also the most video-intensive of the various social media networks, with users watching an average of 8.4 short videos each time they log in. That compares with 7.1 for Twitter, 6.7 for Instagram and 6.1 for Facebook.
The Social Media Trend Update Q3 2016 is based on 1,005 online interviews with Canadians aged 12+ conducted in August and September by Solutions Research Group as part of its ongoing Digital Life Canada syndicated study, now going into its 10th year. While online surveys are not based on pure probability samples, they are predictive nevertheless using proper panels and calibration procedures and a sample of 1,005 has potential accuracy of plus or minus 3.1 points. Digital Life Canada is a subscription-based independent study published by SRG, not sponsored by a third-party or a media company.
