Millennials get a lot of shit for being lazy and spending too much time on Facebook and Instagram, but it turns out middle-aged Americans spend more time on social media than millennials. A recent study by Nielsen found that people between the ages 35 and 49 spend at least seven hours a week on social media, while people ages 18-34 spend about six hours a week checking their feeds. So, yeah, it’s not a gigantic difference, but it does prove that Generation X has no room to nag younger folks about how they spend their time.
Unsurprisingly, women spend more time checking up on their friends’ posts than men, with women spending 25 percent and men spending 19 percent of their time online on social media, according to the Nielsen report. If you want to get super specific, Gen Xers are likely to be on Facebook on Sunday while watching primetime TV.
While the report was geared toward brands wanting to target customers/viewers on social media, noting that 39 percent of heavy social users think finding out about products and services is an important reason for using a site, this is mostly useful in helping millennials clap back at older family members, coworkers, and friends who try to say the younger generation wastes too much time online.
After years of seeing article after article bashing millennials for wasting too much time online and too much time on social media, we finally have the facts needed to turn the tables on our parents. Sure, everyone’s social media habits are different and stats never apply to everyone, but overall, Gen X has no room to talk. The next time you see a middle-aged person who’s commented on your social media tendencies in the past scrolling through Facebook, be sure to point out their hypocrisy.
Don’t let Generation X get away with its lies.
Original by The Frisky
