If you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, thank your smartphone and tablet: Americans’ social media use is on track to spike 37 percent this year, driven by a near doubling of consumption on mobile apps, according to a new Nielsen study.
The biggest social networks are seeing mobile use explode while desktop computer use remains relatively flat, according to a year-end Nielsen survey of social media consumption. Mobile app usage spiked 88 percent on Facebook this year and 134 percent on Twitter. In contrast, desktop use shrank 4 percent on Facebook and grew just 13 percent on Twitter.
The bottom line: Americans spent 121.1 billion minutes on social media during one month this summer versus 88 billion the year prior. You can see how mobile apps drove growth in this graphic:
Pinterest, meanwhile, emerged in 2012 as a growth sensation on all platforms, increasing unique visitors 1,047 percent on the desktop and 4,225 percent on mobile. (It probably helps that Pinterest came out of invitation-only beta only this past August.)
So if you’re thinking about buying a loved one an iPad Mini or a Nexus 4 this holiday season, just remember the little device could prove a big distraction. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing has more to do with your family than with your seductive gizmos.
