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. 2021 Feb 24;4(1):e24737. doi: 10.2196/24737

Table 2.

Social media patterns and preferences observed from the survey responses (n=128).

Variable Total
(n=128)
Millennial
(n=71, 56.8%)
Generation X
(n=42, 33.6%)
Baby boomer
(n=12, 9.6%)
P value
Years of social media use, mean (SD) 10.6 (3.7) 11.8 (3.0) 9.4 (3.6) 6.2 (3.4) <.001a
Personal time spent on social media, min/day, mean (SD) 31.1(22.0) 38.5(20.2) 22.7(21.9) 15.0 (12.8) <.001b
Professional time spent on social media, min/day, mean (SD) 16.9 (24.3) 21.6 (28.6) 8.5 (13.1) 17.3 (18.9) .021b
Total time spent on social media, min/day, mean (SD) 45.9 (35.2) 59.6 (34.7) 30.5 (29.2) 29.6 (25.5) <.001c
Plan to increase social media use, n (%) 103 (82.4) 67 (94.4) 28 (66.7) 8 (66.7) .001d
Platforms with an active account, n (%)

Facebook 109 (85.2) 62 (87.3) 36 (85.7) 8 (66.7) .18

Instagram 85 (66.4) 58 (81.7) 21 (50.0) 4 (33.3) <.001e

LinkedIn 51 (39.8) 25 (35.2) 19 (45.2) 5 (41.7) .56

Reddit 16 (12.5) 8 (11.3) 5 (11.9) 2 (16.7) .87

Snapchat 33 (25.8) 30 (42.3) 2 (4.8) 0 (0.0) <.001f

Twitter 29 (22.7) 14 (19.7) 11 (26.2) 3 (25.0) .71

WhatsApp 49 (38.3) 32 (45.1) 15 (35.7) 2 (16.7) .15

YouTube 35 (27.3) 18 (25.4) 12 (28.6) 3 (25.0) .93
Most valuable platform, n (%) Instagram,
53 (44.4)
Instagram,
42 (60.0)
Facebook,
22 (59.5)
Facebook,
6 (50.0)
.004g
Location where social media is accessed, n (%)

Home 114 (89.1) 66 (93.0) 35 (83.3) 10 (83.3) .24

Work 54 (42.2) 38 (53.5) 11 (26.2) 4 (7.6) .014h

During commute 32 (25.0) 24 (33.8) 5 (11.9) 2 (16.7) .027i

aYears on social media: all post hoc comparisons significant at P<.033.

bTime spent on social media: all post hoc comparisons significant at P<.031.

cTime on social media above average: millennial>GenX, P<.001; millennial>baby boomer, P<.001.

dPlan to increase social media use: millennial>GenX, P<.001; millennial>baby boomer, P=.013.

eActive Instagram account: all post hoc comparisons significant at P<.02.

fActive Snapchat account: all post hoc comparisons significant at P<.036.

gMost valuable platform: Facebook, GenX>millennials, P<.001; Instagram, millennial>GenX, P<.001 , millennial>baby boomers, P<.001.

hSocial media use at work: GenX>millennials, P<.001.

iSocial media use during commute: millennial>GenX, P=0.014.