Social media consumes most online users

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - A new report finds more people log on to social media than any other website.  And the numbers are staggering.  But the bottom line is simple: Americans are consumed by social media.

Meg Gebhard of Shutesbury says the report exposes an addiction. The Nielsen Social Media Report found Americans spent 129 billion minutes browsing social media sites in the month of July alone.

“I don't know, I don't know what to make of that.  And I have friends who do this. I'd rather connect to people face to face,” said Gebhard who doesn’t use social media.

Nielsen’s State of the Media study says access is being driven by mobile phones, with the use of applications doubling in the last year.

“No I don't think that's surprising, I think that's what I've expected; witnessing how people use the internet,” said Joe Bobman who joined Facebook two months ago.

Hampshire College student Nicolle Taniuchi took a Facebook hiatus and canceled her account for two years. She recently came back online after finding she was out of the loop.

“I guess I did feel like my social interactions in general were healthier for me. I also didn't know about a lot of events and things going on because a lot of that is just through Facebook,” said Taniuchi in Amherst on Wednesday.

The report found Facebook continues to dominate the social media market, followed by Twitter.  Also, on average, women spend more time connected than men.

“Women I think are more social animals than men and they seek to create social groups,” said Victoria Worth of Ashfield.

Why we connect hasn't changed.  The majority of respondents said they do it to keep in touch with people they know.  But where we connect, has. Nearly a third of people log on to social media while using the bathroom.