Facebook Inc. is apparently more popular than face-to-face interactions or books.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an earnings call Wednesday that users of Facebook, photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app Messenger spent an average of more than 50 minutes a day using those services. The average did not include another Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp.
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That is more time than Americans spend socializing with others or reading, according to the American Time Use Survey, an annual product of the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the most recent survey, Americans averaged 43 minutes a day socializing, “such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events.”
The only leisure activity that topped socializing in amount of time spent in the survey, which studied the 2014 calendar year, was watching TV, which took up an average of 2.8 hours every day. Reading pales in comparison: Americans spent 21 minutes per weekend day reading, and less on weekdays.
Facebook users also may spend more time with their Facebook friends than caring for their children. While parents of children under 6 reported spending two hours a day on primary child care, kids aged 6 to 17 received 49 minutes a day of attention from their parents, according to BLS.
The BLS statistics may be a little out of date, however. According to the 2014 data, released in June of last year, Americans spent roughly a half hour or less every day using a computer for leisure activities. Judging by Facebook’s claim Wednesday, that average is likely to shoot higher when this year’s study is released.
This article was originally published on Marketwatch.
