Dulles, VA May 17, 2024 — TikTok’s engagement nearly double that of US rival Instagram, as Americans spend nearly two weeks a year on TikTok. In particular, mobile app analytics data from GWS Magnify shows:
- US users are spending over two times more time on TikTok than Instagram each time they open the app, with the typical user spending 13 days a year spent just on TikTok (considering an average 16 waking hours a day)
- As of April 2024, the average TikTok session lasts 8 minutes, with users spending 75 minutes on average on the app each day that they are on it. The average session on Instagram lasts just 3 minutes with users spending just 36 minutes on the app each day, less than half of TikTok’s engagement
- In April 2024, TikTok users in the US clocked up a combined total of 104 billion minutes on the app. In the same month, Instagram came in at the lesser, albeit still very high, figure of 58 billion minutes
- Unsurprisingly, it is the youngest users who are driving the most engagement on both TikTok and Instagram. Users in the 18-24 category spend on average 93 minutes per day on TikTok in April 2024, and 56 minutes on Instagram – for context, this is over 3 weeks a year (22 days on TikTok alone)
- As of April 2024, Instagram was slightly ahead in terms of US user numbers with 108 million monthly active users, compared to TikTok’s 101 million
Dr. Paul Carter, CEO, GWS comments: “Social media companies have been fighting a battle for user engagement for years, and TikTok is currently winning. But while looking at how many times apps are being opened is important, what really matters is how long they stay on those apps. And not only is TikTok winning this battle against Instagram, it’s also winning the bigger battle – the battle for consumer time. Our devices know everything about us – they know what our interests are, who our friends are, where we like to shop and where we spend our free time. The time and energy that people are investing on TikTok is astounding, but that time comes at a cost, as the more time we spend on apps like TikTok, the less time we spend elsewhere. Whatever happens in the ongoing TikTok saga, it’s no surprise that TikTok’s algorithm has been brought into the debate – as whoever holds consumer eyeballs for longest, holds the power.”
Note: App engagement data was generated using Magnify, GWS’s mobile intelligence data platform. Magnify is comprised of key insights collected from consumers participating in our market research programs in the United States and the United Kingdom. These are real-life consumers who use their mobile devices as normal throughout the day so that the analytics data GWS gathers provides the most accurate picture of both the U.S. and U.K. mobile connectivity experience. In particular, data is anonymously collected from Android smartphones 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whenever and wherever the consumers use their devices. Data is reported in aggregate for market research purposes only. All information collected is weighted to a user’s demographic representation of each country’s adult population.
About GWS: For most consumers today, their mobile device is their life’s remote control. As an independent mobile insights consulting firm, GWS measures every aspect of how people live, work, and play via their mobile devices – as well as how mobile network performance affects them.
Combining our market-leading network benchmarking technology and methodology with deep behavioral data, we help businesses and organizations drive innovation and deliver better customer experiences through mobile insights, anywhere in the world. Championing the needs of mobile users by understanding and testing the things that matter to them, we’ve evolved our technology and services in step with the needs of industry and consumers for over 27 years.
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