Over the past weekend (January 29 - 30), I kept a social media usage diary to track just how much time I spend scrolling, posting, viewing or communicating on various social media platforms. Some of the analytics I found truly surprised me.
Before keeping this social media diary, I already knew I spend a significant amount of time on my phone. Truthfully, the amount of time I spend socializing on my phone is greater than the amount of time I spend socializing with my friends in person. This idea was proven to be true when I actually analyzed the hours I communicate with them online. However, the majority of my social media consumption isn't only spent communicating, but rather for entertainment.
For starters, the social media platforms I use on a daily basis seem to be consistent. The platforms I appeared to use daily are both TikTok and Snapchat. This to me made sense as I use TikTok for entertainment purposes and I use Snapchat for communication. Aside from these two apps, I also seemed to use YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram interchangeably. However, when analyzing the time spent on all these apps, TikTok and Snapchat surpass the rest.
When it comes to entertainment purposes, TikTok to me is the perfect social media platform for this. It is hard to keep my attention for long, so I tend to continuously scroll on apps to stimulate my attention. TikTok is perfect for people with a short attention spam, since it is used to showcase short user created videos on all topics imaginable. The TikTok algorithm shows you short videos on topics that you as a user have shown interest in. Because of this, I tend to lean towards using TikTok when I am bored, curious, or simply want something to look at. That is why this is the app that I spend the most time on a daily basis. It is very easy to scroll on TikTok during any free time I get.
For communication purposes, I have a strong preference for utilizing Snapchat as my main communication platform. Personally, I prefer sending a quick "snap" to chat with my friends as it is fast to do so. Not to mention, this app pushes me to reply back to people. For example, when utilizing iMessages to communicate with others, you tend to get a preview of the messages they send to you without having to actually open their messages. To me, this gets tricky as I often read the messages sent to me and forget to reply back. Meanwhile on Snapchat, you have to actually open other's snaps if you want to see what they sent you. This then pushes me to open their messages and reply right away so that I don't forget what the conversation is about. Additionally, through the social media diary, I saw myself answering right away to others whenever I received a Snapchat notification, which in turn added to the amount of time I spend using social media. The fast paced communication adds to my total usage of it. Therefore, Snapchat is my second most used social media platform.
When it came to my social media usage habits, I did see patterns on the amount of time spent on them when compared to the time of day it was. First thing in the morning when I wake up, I check my phone for any notifications I may have received while sleeping. On both days of this overall analysis, I did receive notifications by friends over-night, since it is the weekend. I answered back right away, and then I would go on Snapchat to views others stories. To me, viewing stories is a way to keep in touch with what others do. This helps with my fear of missing out, so doing this in the morning helps me not feel left out on what may have happened over-night. Afterwards, my social media usage clams down until it is lunch time or mid-day. I tend to be a person who uses their phone while eating or during any free time. Lastly, my social media usage also increases at night. Again, I use social media at night to view a recap of everything that happened during the day as well as to view any last videos I can find before bed.
I also found that because I went out with a friend on Sunday, my total screen time was significantly less when compared to that of Saturday's total time. On Saturday I spent a total of 6 hours and 26 minutes online while on Sunday I spent a total of 4 hours and 26 minutes online. This is because when I am around friends, I don't use my phone out of respect. I therefore found this data to be interesting.
All in all, keeping a social media diary was something very beneficial to me. It truly showed me how much time I spend on social media and for what purposes I do. Not only did I learn about why I spend so much time on certain apps, but also why I prefer the apps I do over others. I learned that I am a faced paced person with a short-attention spam, so these faced paced social media platforms really take up the majority of my social media usage. For anyone reading, I highly do recommend keeping a social media diary for a few days as well.
Here is the data I found of my social media dairy:
Day | Social Media Platform | Time spent | Notes on usage |
Saturday, January 29 | TikTok | 2 hrs and 4 mins | Used for entertainment purposes: I watched videos, gave them a like, and scrolled through the comments on them |
| Snapchat | 1 hr and 29 mins | Used for communication purposes: I would send snaps or utilize the chat feature. I would also watch other's stories to keep up with what they do, or I would post on my own story |
| YouTube | 44 mins | Used for entertainment purposes: I would only watch a few videos |
| 7 mins | Used for communication/entertainment purposes: I would scroll of the feed and react to posts shared by others | |
| 3 mins | Used for communication/entertainment purposes: I would scroll and heart others pictures on my feed |
Day | Social Media Platform | Time spent | Notes on usage |
Sunday, January 30 | TikTok | 1 hr and 48 mins | Same as above |
| Snapchat | 1 hr and 20 mins | Same as above |
| YouTube | 7 mins | Same as above |
| 7 mins | Same as above | |
| 3 mins | Same as above |
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