HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Sensis’ annual Social Media Report documents the usage of social media channels among Australians, aiming to help businesses make informed decisions to engage with consumers.

In 2016 social media has become increasingly ubiquitous, with 69% of Australians who use the internet having a social media presence. 50% of these users access social media daily, and 26% log in over five times a day.

95% of social media users are on Facebook, accessing it on average 32 times a week. Of these users, 50% nominate it as their favourite social media platform, citing the user friendliness as a large reason for this. 18% of Facebook users don’t have any other social media presence. The average time spent on Facebook per visit has increased since 2015, from 17 minutes to 24 minutes, for a total average of 12 and a half hours spent on Facebook weekly.

Instagram, the second most popular platform, has doubled its reach since 2013, being used by 58% of 18-29 year olds. With attractive visual content, privacy features and ease of use, Instagram is accessed by 31% of Australian social media users. Similarly, Snapchat, another visual platform, has increased in usage from 15% to 22% over the past year; appealing to a younger demographic.

While Facebook is considered the favourite social media platform by 50% of social media users, it’s interesting to note that 38% claim not to have a favourite at all. The next most popular site is Instagram, claiming 4% of users.

While Twitter has grown marginally in users, it also has the highest drop-off rate with 34% of users no longer using it. While this drop-off rate has fallen, it’s still significantly higher than any other platform. It’s interesting to note that despite this decline, Twitter users have tripled their average weekly usage since 2015.

54% of women nominate Facebook as their favourite platform, compared to 46% of men. The majority of these users are over 40, with users under that age group, regardless of gender, showing an above average interest in more visual platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.

A lack of interest (64%), along with time constraints (21%) and privacy concerns (19%), are the three biggest reasons Australians are avoiding joining social media. However, alongside these larger concerns are a number of smaller reasons, such as preferring face to face contact, not agreeing with the idea of social media, preferring other communication methods and not knowing how to use social media. While these barriers are not as pronounced, they show that many factors influence a person’s decision to use social media.