Social Media Platform Repertoires in Everyday Life: Measuring Social Media Use With Passive Metering

IF 5.8 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Social Media + Society Pub Date : 2026-10-17 DOI:10.1177/20563051261488115

Moreno Mancosu, Mario Quaranta, Fabio Torreggiani

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Social media platforms structure the ways in which billions of citizens access information. Nevertheless, to assess social media time use, most research relies on limited data sources, such as self-reported survey measures or behavioral data from single platforms or convenience samples. Using 6 weeks of passive metering of smartphone and computer activity from a quota sample of Italian adults (18–70, n = 1,457), this study provides a behaviorally measured account of platform-specific social media use across the adult population. We quantify time allocation across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter/X and examine how use varies by sociodemographic factors. Results show that Facebook and YouTube dominate everyday social media time, accounting for nearly three-quarters of consumption, while Instagram attracts comparable average time from a narrower user base, and TikTok shows concentrated usage among younger adopters. Twitter/X occupies a marginal niche. Use is overwhelmingly app-based (>90%), a pattern that browser-based measurement cannot capture. Age is the strongest demographic predictor: Gen Z concentrates attention on Instagram and TikTok, while older cohorts favor Facebook; YouTube shows weak demographic patterning. Gender and education are consistent secondary predictors: women devote more time to Facebook, Instagram, and social media overall, and higher education is associated with lower aggregate use and a smaller share on Facebook and TikTok. Employment and income show null effects. Together, these behavioral, cross-platform figures provide a more accurate basis for weighting platforms by their actual audiences than self-reported or single-platform evidence allows.

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日常生活中的社交媒体平台：用被动计量测量社交媒体使用

社交媒体平台构建了数十亿公民获取信息的方式。然而，为了评估社交媒体的时间使用情况，大多数研究依赖于有限的数据源，例如自我报告的调查措施或来自单一平台或便利样本的行为数据。通过对意大利成年人（18-70岁，n = 1457）的智能手机和电脑活动进行为期6周的被动测量，本研究提供了成年人中特定平台社交媒体使用的行为测量账户。我们量化了Facebook、Instagram、TikTok、YouTube和Twitter/X的时间分配，并研究了使用情况如何因社会人口因素而变化。结果显示，Facebook和YouTube主导着日常社交媒体时间，占消费的近四分之三，而Instagram吸引的平均时间来自更窄的用户群，而TikTok的使用集中在年轻用户中。Twitter/X占据了一个边缘利基市场。使用绝大多数是基于应用程序的（>90%），基于浏览器的测量无法捕捉到这种模式。年龄是最有力的人口预测因素：Z世代把注意力集中在Instagram和TikTok上，而老年人更喜欢Facebook；YouTube显示出较弱的人口统计模式。性别和教育程度始终是次要预测因素：总体而言，女性在Facebook、Instagram和社交媒体上投入的时间更多，而高等教育程度与Facebook和TikTok的总使用量较低以及份额较小有关。就业和收入没有任何影响。总之，这些行为、跨平台数据为根据实际用户对平台进行加权提供了比自我报告或单一平台证据更准确的基础。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Social Media + Society COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

9.20

自引率

3.80%

发文量

111

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Social Media + Society is an open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal that focuses on the socio-cultural, political, psychological, historical, economic, legal and policy dimensions of social media in societies past, contemporary and future. We publish interdisciplinary work that draws from the social sciences, humanities and computational social sciences, reaches out to the arts and natural sciences, and we endorse mixed methods and methodologies. The journal is open to a diversity of theoretic paradigms and methodologies. The editorial vision of Social Media + Society draws inspiration from research on social media to outline a field of study poised to reflexively grow as social technologies evolve. We foster the open access of sharing of research on the social properties of media, as they manifest themselves through the uses people make of networked platforms past and present, digital and non. The journal presents a collaborative, open, and shared space, dedicated exclusively to the study of social media and their implications for societies. It facilitates state-of-the-art research on cutting-edge trends and allows scholars to focus and track trends specific to this field of study.