Indian youth are spending an average of 7 hours a day on social media: IIM-Rohtak
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New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak on the use of social media by youth revealed that the average screen time of a man is 6 hours 45 minutes, while the average screen time of a woman is 7 hours 5 minutes. The study also revealed that around 60.66 per cent of youth use social media platforms, with the highest usage occurring in the evening. The highest viewership – over 50 per cent – is of entertainment-related content. According to IIM, there has been an unprecedented increase in the use of smartphones and social media platforms across the world in the last decade. With affordable data plans and increasing internet facilities, a large number of youth in the country are turning to digital media.
Social media platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook have become virtual public spaces through which youth exchange their ideas and experiences. While on one hand these platforms provide connectivity, on the other hand they also contribute to increasing screen time. From following trends on Instagram to watching content on YouTube, the screen time of youth has increased significantly due to social media.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers from IIM-Rohtak during October-November 2023. For this, data was collected from 38,896 youth aged 18 to 25 years. Professor Dheeraj Sharma, director of IIM-Rohtak, said 18,521 men and 14,375 women from different regions, socio-economic and cultural classes were included in the study. They mainly use YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Safari and Google Chrome during their screen time. Apart from this, the trend of end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp calling instead of traditional calling is also increasing among the youth. This is because young people want privacy in their communications.
Social media platforms provide a canvas for digital expression and online identity formation for youth. According to Professor Sharma, out of the total screen time of youth on social media, 31.27 percent is spent on Instagram, 28.32 percent on WhatsApp, 19.78 percent on Snapchat and 17.20 percent on Facebook. Citing the study, he said entertainment-related content has the highest viewership at 54.52 per cent, while other content viewed on social media includes professional and self-help (26.23 per cent), education, knowledge and news (14.28 per cent) and Political content comprises 4.97 percent of the audience.
When it comes to consuming content on OTT platforms, the study revealed that YouTube leads the way and 32.03 percent of youth prefer it. According to IIM, social media platforms provide connectivity as well as opportunities. In such a situation, it is important to adopt a judicious approach to create a synergy between digital opportunities as well as mental health and social well-being. In today’s digital age, it is important to ensure the positive impact of digital platforms by reducing excessive screen time among the youth of the country. Policy makers need to make such policies so that youth voluntarily limit the use of social media and use it for their development.
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