The latest episode of "The Poynter Report Podcast" features Dr. Justin Martin, discussing findings from the Life in Media Survey. This pivotal study explores children's engagement with smartphones and social media. Key insights reveal that while older generations prefer Facebook and X, younger audiences predominantly use YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Participants reported spending nearly four hours daily on these platforms, underscoring the significant amount of time dedicated to social media. Martin expresses concern over the dependency on smartphones, likening them to appendages for children, with troubling implications for their overall well-being and sleep patterns.
In our conversation, we talk about exactly what kind of social media younger people use. While older people tend to gravitate towards Facebook and X, kids (we're talking as young as preteens) tend to spend most of their time on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram - in that order.
And it was about four hours. So for kids who said YouTube was their favorite platform, they said they spend about four hours a day using it, and it was close to four hours for Instagram, TikTok, or between three and a half and four hours for the other major platforms as well.
I think just as a smartphone becomes an appendage for us as adults, it becomes an appendage for children as well. And so many of them feel that they can't sleep without the phone in their hand.
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