Researching the social media use of people can yield surprising results. Research from SimilarWeb in the US has shown that people in the Instagram app spend almost as much time as in the Facebook app.
Instagram blooms
In June, people spent an average of 53 minutes per day on Instagram. With 58 minutes per day, people on Facebook were only active for five minutes on average. On Snapchat, users in the US spent an average of 49.5 minutes per day in June. Compared to last year, both Instagram and Snapchat have made a considerable catch-up on Facebook. If this trend continues like this, Facebook could end up among the two blossoming apps next year.
Hang to attention
There is a real competition going on between apps, because every app wants as much attention as possible from users. The more time people spend on the app, the more ads they see. The ads ultimately bring money into the drawer. The developers of the apps are always looking for ways to be seen and to be able to compete with other apps. Facebook has recently announced a number of new features, including a dating service and more room for music. Instagram wants to get people to shop and Snapchat came with a redesign of the app, which was not a success.
Who wins?
SimilarWeb research is only done among android users. Yet the patterns among iOS users will not be very different.