Generation Z’s Smartphone and Social Media Usage: A Survey

This study examined the smartphone and social media usage among Generation Z. A survey was completed by a non-random sample of 415 students at State University of New York in Oneonta during the academic year 2017-2018. The results revealed that almost all Gen Zers (99%) own a smartphone, and 98% of them use their smartphones to connect to the Internet most of the time. More than half of Gen Zers spend nine hours or more in a typical day using their smartphones, and nearly half of them spend 3-8 hours per day on their smartphones. With regard to the use of social media, more than half of Gen Zers accessed various social media several times a day, while nearly 1 in 5 admitted accessing social media every hour of the day. As for the amount of time devoted to social media, nearly one-third of the students admitted using social media for 7-10 hours per day, and slightly less than one-third of the students spent 5-6 hours per day on social media. With regard to Generation Z’s perception of their addiction to smartphone and social media, 4 in 5 students admitted that they were spending an excessive amount of time on the Internet, and two-thirds believed that they were spending too much time on social media. Furthermore, 7 in 10 students admitted that they were addicted to the Internet, and nearly two-thirds believed they were addicted to social media. These findings may have significant implications for counseling and intervention for parents, educators, and policy makers.