Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Generation Xers are between the ages of 35 and 49, not millennials.
Though millennials are often thought of as being constantly tethered to their smartphones and electronic devices to update Facebook profiles, fire of tweets and post to Instagram, The New York Times reports a new survey from Nielsen says those in generation X actually spend more time on social media sites.
Generation Xers, or those aged 35 to 49, were found to spend an average of 6 hours 58 minutes a week on social media networks, compared with 6 hours 19 minutes for millennials, or those aged 18 to 34. More predictably, adults 50 and over spent significantly less time on the networks: An average of 4 hours 9 minutes a week.
Sean Casey, the president of Nielsen’s social division, says the finding initially surprised him because “the going thought is that social is vastly owned by the younger generation.” But Casey, 46, says that eventually, the finding started to make more sense to him.
“At a time when we wanted to be connected, it came out right when we were at the top of our media consumption,” he says. “It’s become second nature to our generation.”
The finding underscores how ubiquitous the smartphone has become. The report, found that in the United States, 97% of people 18 to 34, and 94% of people 35 to 49, had access to smartphones. Seventy-seven percent of those 50 and older used smartphones, the report found. The 29-page report was based on data from 9,000 smartphone users and 1,300 tablet users across the country from July through September. The data was not self-reported.
