Daily media use in U.S. up a full hour over last year
NEW YORK — The typical American adult is using media for a full hour a day more than just last year, with smartphones accounting for most of the increase.
People spent an average of 10 hours, 39 minutes each day with smartphones, tablets, TV, radio, computers and video games during the first three months of 2016, according to a Nielsen company study released this week. It was nine hours, 39 minutes during the same period in 2015.
Even these numbers are probably underestimated, since while Nielsen measures the amount of time spent online on smartphones, it doesn’t count texting, taking selfies or talking on the phone.
Most Americans can sense the increase anecdotally given the ubiquity of smartphones.
People stare at screens while waiting in line for fast food, riding in elevators or walking down the street. Retail outlets post signs pleading that phones be turned off. People check messages in bed before falling asleep, and reach for the devices upon waking up.
As she waits for her 5:45 a.m. spin class to begin, Cassandra Girao of Ossining, N.Y., sits on a bike scrolling through her email, listening to music or solving a puzzle.
“I feel like I would be lost without it,” Girao said. “My whole life is on it.”
Even so, Girao said she feels better when she gives the phone a rest. She sometimes hides tablets from her 4-year-old son to give him device-free days, and said he’s better behaved as a result.
An estimated 81 percent of American adults use a smartphone regularly, with the number of users growing by more than 20 million in the past year, said Glenn Enoch, senior vice president of audience insights for Nielsen.
Of the additional hour in media time that Nielsen has measured this year, smartphone usage accounts for 37 minutes and tablets 12 minutes.
Online smartphone use averages an hour and 39 minutes a day — more than double what it was two years ago, Nielsen said.