We’re constantly holding onto our phones and computers for dear life, unable to let any Facebook or Twitter feed go unnoticed.
A recent analysis conducted by ZenithOptimedia’s Media Consumption Forecast reported that people spend an average of 492 minutes a day consuming media in 2015, according to the U.K. publication Media Week.
“The average person already spends half their waking life consuming media,” stated Jonathan Barnard, the head of forecasting at the agency.
“But people around the world are clearly hungry for even more opportunities to discover information, enjoy information, enjoy entertainment and communicate with each other, and new technology is supplying these opportunities.”
“Consuming media” is not limited to just looking at browsing on the Interwebz. It includes watching TV, newspapers, magazines and even listening to the radio.
Television remains the most dominant form of taking in media while Internet takes second place, according to the news outlet Quartz. Despite what the charts look like now, Internet may soon take over as the more dominant provider.
Average daily internet media consumption has reportedly doubled over the past five years. In 2010, the Internet was reportedly responsible for 13% of average daily media use, but the percentage has since changed 105%.
By 2017, Internet media consumption is reportedly set to reach nearly 30%.
Traditional media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and cinema, reportedly fell between 2010 and 2014, and there is expected to be an ongoing decline in this arena.
ZenithOptimedia’s recent analysis reportedly suggests that the Internet is driving out other forms of media, a perspective that has been frowned upon by others.
“We welcome Zenith’s positivity about TV’s continued strength. However it is frustrating when ‘the internet’ is positioned as a medium having a detrimental effect on other media,” stated Lindsey Clay, the chief executive of Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV.
“There are many factors that affect media consumption – you can’t put every change down to the internet. But more importantly the internet is not a medium; it is a technology which delivers loads of things – banking, shopping, (re)searching… and lots of different media. You can’t lump all this activity together. If you do, you lose sight of how things are changing as media are consumed across different platforms."