With teenagers and adults below the age of 30 making up nearly half of all social media users worldwide, it’s clear that brands catering to Generation Z need to be active on social networks to increase their reach and engagement with them.

Crafting a marketing strategy that targets Gen Z requires understanding this age group’s online habits. Here’s a look at one of the most important Generation Z social media usage statistics: time spent per day.

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How much time does Gen Z spend on social media every day?

According to the latest Generation Z social media usage statistics from an analyst report, more than one-third (35%) of Gen Z consumers in the United States spend more than four hours using social networks every day. In comparison, just 19% of all US adults spend the same amount of time on social media—a difference of 16 percentage points.

Meanwhile, another 18% of Gen Z consumers do so for four hours a day. In other words, more than half (53%) of Gen Zers spend four hours or more a day on social media.

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Gen Z: time spent on social media general trend

As the first completely digitally native generation, it’s clear that Generation Z is an extremely connected and social-media-savvy group. 

In fact, the general trend shows that the proportion of Gen Zers decreases with the amount of time spent on social media. For instance, another 18% of Gen Z consumers spend three hours a day on social media. 17% do so for two hours, and 6% are on for an hour a day. Just 3% spend less than one hour a day on social media.

The report also reveals that Gen Z's social media activity is predominantly focused on entertainment, with review videos proving to be the most effective in captivating their interest.

When it comes to the most popular social media platforms Gen Z uses, YouTube comes out on top. It is frequented by 88% of Gen Zers. This is followed by Instagram and TikTok, with 76% and 68%, respectively.

That said, a separate report suggests that some Gen Z social media users are becoming concerned about their high usage, and as many as one-third of them are taking active steps to limit it.

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