On average, young people are on 8.7 social media accounts, according to a survey of more than 89,029 web users between the ages of 16 and 64.

 

Through an online questionnaire, Global Web Index surveyed respondents from 40 countries about their digital lives, giving them 42 social media networks to choose from.

 

The survey found that Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are popular ways to communicate, and millennials are on roughly 1 in 5 social media networks.

 

The study reports that across all age groups 98% of web users polled use at least one social network.

 

On average, they have 7.6 active accounts and, unsurprisingly, young people (16-34 years old) tend to have more accounts (8.7 on average) than those over 55 (4.6). Although, older users are still highly active on social media.

 

Globally, the highest number of accounts per user can be found in Latin America (8.8) and Asia (8.1).

 

According to the report, each web user spends an average of two hours and 15 minutes per day on social networks and online messaging platforms.

 

Web users are now using social networks to keep up with the news as well as staying in touch with friends. Plus, watching videos on social media remains a growing trend. In fact, 56% of Facebook users polled said they watched at least one video online in the last month, as did around four in 10 users of Instagram or Snapchat.

 

As for online purchases via social networks, despite many using the platforms to research products, just 13% of 16-24 year olds said that a “buy” button would encourage them to make purchases on social media — a figure that drops with age.

 

Finally, social media users’ level of engagement continues to grow, now reaching 90%. Engagement was reportedly highest in the Middle East and Africa (97%) and lowest in Europe (87%). While younger users again score highest (95%), engagement among users over 55 was 78%.