By Felix Richter, Statista
Social media may have been built to connect people, but entertainment and diversion now appear to be its main draws. According to Statista Consumer Insights, nearly half of U.S. respondents say entertainment is an important criterion when it comes to social media, ahead of passing time and communicating with friends and family.
Among young adults aged 18 to 29, the social dimension of social media is even less pronounced: 32 percent cite staying in touch with friends and family as important, compared with 37 percent who value simply passing time. With only 25 percent naming meeting new people as a priority, the findings illustrate how social platforms increasingly function as an always-on source of content, diversion and passive consumption, as opposed to it original purpose of staying in touch with friends.
Reviewed by Irfan Ahmad.
Read next:
• New EU laws make AI content labels compulsory – but might just make it harder to spot deepfakes
• Trying to compete with China could slow global climate action, report warns
Social media may have been built to connect people, but entertainment and diversion now appear to be its main draws. According to Statista Consumer Insights, nearly half of U.S. respondents say entertainment is an important criterion when it comes to social media, ahead of passing time and communicating with friends and family.
Among young adults aged 18 to 29, the social dimension of social media is even less pronounced: 32 percent cite staying in touch with friends and family as important, compared with 37 percent who value simply passing time. With only 25 percent naming meeting new people as a priority, the findings illustrate how social platforms increasingly function as an always-on source of content, diversion and passive consumption, as opposed to it original purpose of staying in touch with friends.
Reviewed by Irfan Ahmad.
Read next:
• New EU laws make AI content labels compulsory – but might just make it harder to spot deepfakes
• Trying to compete with China could slow global climate action, report warns
