Consumer Mobile Habits Overtime
How has screen time increased overtime?
I can only begin to imagine how the pandemic increased screentime. With so many kids and adults being home from work and social media apps like TikTok taking off, I wanted to look into how consumer habits have changed overtime.
The first thing I came across,
“Youth screen time increased by 52 percent during pandemic”
After reading this Changing America article, I thought it was so interesting amid talking about how there has been a jump of screen time since prior to the pandemic, they slip a little self promo and plug their facebook and twitter to get you to follow along and stay up to the latest news. I thought that was interesting considering this is an article that is talking about how the increase of screen time could be detrimental tot overall health and they are still encouraging you to follow their socials, which is a part of their marketing strategy!
“Around 95 percent of U.S. teens report having access to a smartphone in 2022, and 46 percent say they use the internet “almost constantly.”
After reading this Changing America article, I thought it was so interesting amid talking about how there has been a jump of screen time since prior to the pandemic, they slip a little self promo and plug their facebook and twitter to get you to follow along and stay up to the latest news. I thought that was interesting considering this is an article that is talking about how the increase of screen time could be detrimental tot overall health and they are still encouraging you to follow their socials, which is a part of their marketing strategy!
“Around 95 percent of U.S. teens report having access to a smartphonein 2022, and 46 percent say they use the internet “almost constantly.”
I wanted to take a closer look into what these teens were doing on their phones “almost constantly”.
Let’s Take a Look into Social Media Popularity over time…
Youtube is at the top of the charts according to this survey done by the Pew Research Center, and very far up is Tik Tok, however, Facebook has taken a large decline from 71% of teens in 2014-2015 using it, to only 32% in 2022. Snapchat is another one that has increased as well as Instagram.
This research was collected when asking teens first, if they thing they use social media too much, and secondly, how far they think it would be to give up social media. These numbers are interesting to me because as a 20 year old, I think that I use social media too much and always say “I want to delete all social media” but never actually do. So, seeing these teenagers say that they think it would be “somewhat ease” and “very easy” top give up social media probably have never gone a day without it. I think the people that said it would be “very hard” and “somewhat hard” are being more realistic when it comes to their social media habits.
Keeping the Audience Engaged…
The Web of Influence textbook highlights that the use of video is one of the quickest, and most emotionally engaging ways to convey a message. Perhaps this is why Tik Tok and Youtube are of the highest and most used platforms by teens. Along with this, teens could be watching Tik Tok or Youtube while doing something else simultaneously. It was also written that smartphone apps account for 61% of all time spent on social media in the US alone. This is why marketing strategizes should fully utilize the power of social media.
TikTok
〰️
〰️
Youtube
〰️
Snapchat
〰️
〰️
〰️
TikTok 〰️ Instagram 〰️ Youtube 〰️ Snapchat 〰️ Facebook 〰️ Twitter 〰️
How to Limit Screen Time
It is easy to get caught in a rabbit hole on YouTube or to be continuously scrolling on TikTok. Something that could help users limit their screen time, if they wish to do so, to help with over consumption is to go into their phone and set screen time limits for certain apps. You can set the certain time limit and once you reach that amount of time a notification will pop up and alert you so that you know you hit your limit. This will at least make you aware when you reach your limit and can lock your apps if you choose to do so. Another way that may be beneficial is to try and not use your phone an hour before bed. This will help your eye health right before bed and can limit you from mindlessly scrolling right before bed.
Do you ever catch yourself mindlessly on your phone, while watching TV?
Here are my sources if you wanted to read more about this topic:
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/reduce-screen-time/tips-to-reduce-screen-time.htm
NATHALIE NAHAI- Webs of Influence (pg 60-83)