Apptopia Twitterkantrowitz Bigtechnology: While the impact of Trump’s Twitter ban on his followers is hotly debated, there’s one thing everyone agrees on: Americans are still tweeting. “Apptopia” has been able to maintain a daily average of over 135,000 Tweets since Trump was banned from Twitter in mid-2017. It seems that Americans must be spending their time wisely, with the number of hours they spend logged into Instagram rising by 10% year-on-year since 2016.
The number of hours Americans spend on apps and services like Instagram, Netflix, Snapchat and Facebook each day is up by 10% year-on-year since 2016, according to Research firm eMarketer.
In a recent report headed “Americans Over the Age of 12: Appetite for Digital Media Continues Rising”, the analyst firm said that over 75% of Americans aged 12 to 17 use applications and service like Snapchat, Netflix and Facebook daily. By contrast, only 25% use email daily.
The report separated mobile from “TV-connected” devices like Roku, Apple TV and video game consoles, but found that the newer devices were growing faster than the older ones. Mobile device use for apps, games and video is up over 10% year-on-year in 2017. TV connected device such as AppleTV and Roku are also growing, but at a slower rate of 8% year on year.
Leo Costa, Americas evp of marketing research, said that “[Americans] are swapping TV for mobile app and game play. They’re multitasking more and doing more things from the phone.”
In the report, eMarketer defines “TV-connected services” as those that have an app on Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire. It also notes that these apps are often used just to watch video rather than as a traditional video service.
While TV-connected apps are growing the fastest, smartphone app use is the largest and most consistent of all categories. However, both app and game categories are still growing slower than in previous years.
“App” use on smartphones and tablets tends to be more expensive compared with cheaper streaming services that appeal to younger audiences. In order to encourage people to spend more, Apple has started promoting its cheaper apps for users of the iPhone.
Costa said: “Apple said ‘hey, we have a $9.99 app for that’, it’s brought a lot of eyes to the App Store. They promote apps as well as subscriptions on their home page.”
eMarketer says that these trends in mobile and TV-connected app use are a sign that younger Americans are becoming more accustomed to spending time watching video content on tablets, phones and computers. Research has shown that increasing screen time is linked to higher rates of obesity among children.