Turks spending more time on social media in lockdown: Survey

TRABZON

Turks are spending around five hours and 38 minutes on average a day on social media during lockdown days, an increase from three hours and 28 minutes, according to an online survey carried out by two Turkish academics from Gümüşhane University and Trabzon University.

The respondents of the survey who would normally spend an average time of seven hours and more on social media before the lockdown began said they were spending even more time now, with their numbers surging to 27.5 percent from 6.6 percent among all those surveyed.

The study was carried out by academic Ersin Diker and Fatih Çelik, who conducted an online survey method with the participation of 1,067 people, 629 women and 438 men across Turkey.

Among the most frequently used social media platforms were Instagram with 27.2 percent, WhatsApp with 24.7 percent and Twitter with 21 percent, becoming the top three apps.

Noting that Instagram is still the most frequently used social media platform for Turkish people under all circumstances, Çelik said that individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 use this platform extensively.

“However, people aged 36-44 use Twitter and those over 45 use WhatsApp more frequently,” he added.

According to the data obtained, Çelik said that individuals see Twitter as the most convenient and useful platform to follow daily news and reports.

Pointing out that fake and manipulative news increased during the pandemic period, the academic emphasized that WhatsApp played a big role in the spread of such content.

“It is possible to say that WhatsApp has the effect of frequent sharing of right or wrong as well as fake and manipulated content related to the epidemic through personal messages or groups of users,” Çelik added.