Social media marketing forms a key part of any business’s long-term strategy, and understanding its user demographics is vital to entrepreneurial success. This means that apart from knowing why people use social media, it’s also useful to have a clear picture of social media usage by gender and age.

Here’s a breakdown of social media usage by gender and age.

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Social media and gender: breakdown of time spent by age groups

A recent study has put the question of which gender uses social media more to rest. Results from the analysis of social media usage by gender show that while there are more male social media users (53.5% of the global population) than female social media users (46.5%), in terms of time spent, female users spend more time surfing social media every day—irrespective of age. 

For instance, female users between 16 and 24 years of age spend an average of two hours and 59 minutes on social media every day. In comparison, their male counterparts spend two hours and 32 minutes—27 minutes less. The difference in daily time spent on social media between the two genders is also the largest in this age group. For context, the average daily time spent on social media among all users is two hours and 23 minutes.

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In the 25 to 34 age group, women spend two hours and 48 minutes a day on social media, compared to men, who spend 17 minutes less, at just over two and a half hours every day. The difference in social media use by gender in the next age group is the smallest across all age groups—females from 35 to 44 years old are active on social media for an average of two hours and 21 minutes a day, compared to two hours and 17 minutes for males. This equates to a difference of just four minutes.

Women between 45 and 54 years of age spend two hours and 10 minutes on social media every day, while their male peers spend one hour and 52 minutes. In the oldest age group, women aged 55 to 64 are on social media for one hour and 46 minutes a day. Men, on the other hand, spend one hour and 31 minutes.

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