According to a recent study, Brits are spending more time browsing the internet than ever, with the average Briton devoting six hours a week solely to social networking site Facebook.
Experts have suggested that one of the reasons why the UK is constantly trawling through the internet is because of a fear of missing out on what’s going on in their social circles, causing Brits to become reluctant to log out of their social media accounts and spend too long on them.
Social media site Facebook is the largest platform of its kind online, boasting around 1.6 billion users worldwide, and of this figure, 32 million are UK users.
The study was conducted by Row.co.uk, a gadget insurance provider. The company collected its data from a sample of 2,000 UK residents. The findings showed that in March 2016, UK users spent a collective total of 850 million hours on Facebook throughout the 31-day period. This averages out to 26.5 hours per user.
It is not only Facebook that the UK is addicted to; the average Brit spends around 21 hours a week online, whether that is catching up with the latest television series on Netflix or posting their holiday snaps on various social media sites. The research found that the UK spends more than nine hours a month on Google and all its forms, and seven and a half hours on Netflix. These figures are still quite small compared to the amount of time spent on Facebook.
This addiction has contributed to the fact that more British adults are surfing the net through smartphones and tablets instead of PCs and laptops. The need to continuously monitor Facebook means that the majority of people check the social site as soon as they wake up in the morning and last thing at night, making it an important part of their daily routine.
The research found that 65% of UK adults use their phone to access the internet and spend an average of 58 and a half hours a month browsing the web or using apps. This is in comparison to the 31 hours and 19 minutes spent doing the same activities on desktops and laptops. As well as this, there has been an increase of 10% in the number of Brits who only use their smartphones and tablets to access the internet.
The majority of businesses have now recognised the importance of having a Facebook account for their company and ensuring that their websites are mobile friendly so that they can maximise any potential new clients and customers.
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RT @EngageWeb: Any guesses how long we’re spending on Facebook? Find out here: https://t.co/VZ1dkOmXgV