Facebook users in Australia are on average spending the equivalent of a full working day on the social networking service each week, a new survey shows.
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According to the Sensis Social Media Report, a survey that is done yearly, Facebook users spent on average 16.64 minutes on the service each time they used it in the past year. Multiplying surveyed users' average time by the average number of usage occasions (31.2) shows that the typical user spends a whopping 8.5 hours per week on it.
"Social media is a great way for people to stay connected, but you also have to wonder if there is an impact on personal relationships and sleeping patterns when people are spending eight and a half hours on Facebook each week," Sensis general manager of digital, Evan Ravensdale, said.
Meanwhile, of those surveyed, 14 per cent of those who said they used social media reported ceasing use of some social networking sites this past year. Of those, Twitter lost the most users, with 39 per cent deleting their profiles.
The report also found that the most widely used site by social media users was Facebook (93 per cent), followed by LinkedIn (28 per cent) and Instagram (26 per cent).
"The various sites appeal differently to people," Mr Ravensdale said. "For example, LinkedIn usage is most popular among high income males while visual platforms such as Snapchat and Tumblr are most popular with 20-29 year olds."
The survey involved 800 Australian consumers and 1100 Australian businesses.
Fairfax Media
