Apple’s heavy-handed approach with its mobile operating system has fueled other platforms’ desires to define a new ecosystem unencumbered by the App Store or Google Play. Prediction.

Gen Z’s media consumption skews heavily toward short bursts of content viewed on smartphones (particularly via Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube) as opposed to lean-back viewing on connected TVs. This youngest generation is heavily invested in audio platforms like Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube Music.

The Global Media Intelligence Report is a concise, detailed compilation of data and insights about internet users’ traditional and digital media usage in 43 key markets worldwide. With very few exceptions, this 2021 edition covers the same range of metrics we featured in 2020, and the consistency of GWI’s methodology enables us to offer precise year-over-year (YoY) comparisons.

We have that in other media channels, and it’s a lot harder in social media channels.”. Our Take: We don’t think deceptive content will ever disappear entirely from social media—despite the platforms’ efforts to reduce its visibility.

As with print media, consumption was most common in older age brackets and in higher-income households. Broadly speaking, all traditional media have been overtaken by digital alternatives. Colombia’s internet users spent an average 36 minutes with print media in H1 2021—identical to the result one year prior.

Among countries monitored by GWI, only the Philippines recorded a higher daily mobile time, at 5:45 this year. In contrast to a pattern seen in many other markets, ownership of both PCs and tablets rose by a couple of percentage points this year, to 49.4% and 33.6%, respectively. Time spent with desktops, laptops, and tablets also climbed, from 3:38 in H1 2020 to 3:55 in H1 2021.

Mobile still claimed the larger share, at 5:45, but PCs and tablets posted an average 5:11 each day. Those figures rose by 15 minutes and 33 minutes from H1 2020, respectively. Social networking and messaging were also universal: Some 99.7% of respondents had accessed at least one of 37 named social platforms in the prior month, while 98.5% had used at least one of 20 named messaging services.

Time spent with both mobile and nonmobile devices rocketed, at least partly because of the pandemic. Internet users spent an average of 3:30 per day with their mobile phones in H1 2021, up from 3:12 last year. PCs and tablets accounted for 4:27 per day, about half an hour more than in H1 2020. The survey also highlighted growing interest in some newer digital devices.

This metric rose more steeply year over year than mobile time, which accounted for 3:08 daily. Digital video arguably now exceeds live TV in terms of reach, while paid-for video services made a quantum leap between 2020 and 2021. An overwhelming majority of internet users still watched live TV broadcasts, and that interest doesn’t seem to be waning.

Time spent with all major devices rose sharply in 2021, though mobile continued to claim the larger share. In H1 2021, internet users spent an average of 5 hours (5:00) daily with their smartphones and 4:36 with desktops/laptops and tablets. After a decline in 2020, game consoles had a somewhat better year; 32.6% of respondents owned one in H1 2021.

Broadcast TV remained a key media experience for internet users, with average daily viewing time rivaling that of mobile, at 2 hours, 16 minutes (2:16) in H1 2021. As of Q1, just over 89% of those surveyed had watched live TV in the month prior, while 69.0% had used a channel’s catch-up or on-demand services, and more than half had recorded TV shows to watch later.

In H1 2021, the average time spent per day with mobile was 2 hours, 18 minutes (2:18)—compared with 3:19 spent with desktops/laptops and tablets. Mobile devices also claimed less time than broadcast TV (2:19).

Daily PC time grew more than mobile time year over year; the opposite was true in 2020. The greater increase in PC time may be due in part to a mandated lockdown between April and June 2021—though lockdowns were also in place during much of Q2 2020. Social media and entertainment remained top digital activities. Social media usage is now almost universal.

This year, however, time spent each day with desktops, laptops, and tablets rose by 25 minutes, while mobile time increased by 16 minutes—an indication that larger screens saw an uptick during phases of the pandemic when internet users were at home more often.