Manchester has been named the city most addicted to social media

After spending nearly a full year in some form of lockdown or another, it’s not surprising to discover we’re spending more time on social media than ever before, as our social lives have become virtual.

While social media is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, it’s also very addictive, and according to a new survey people in Manchester are more hooked than any other city.

AddictiveTips conducted a study looking into how many hours a week on average the UK spends on social media, asking 5,435 participants to record their weekly social media screen time for six months.

And Manchester has been named the most addicted to social media, with Mancunians spending an average of 16 hours and 13 minutes a week scrolling through popular social sites.

The survey also discovered that our most popular platform is Facebook, with Mancs logging on for an average of 16 hours and 35 minutes a week.

Ranking second is Bradford, where residents spend approximately 16 hours and 5 minutes a week on social media. You will most likely catch them on YouTube, with participants admitting to spending an average of 16 hours and 30 minutes a week watching videos.

In third place is Sheffield with an average social media screen time of 15 hours and 58 minutes. The most popular platform in Sheffield is WhatsApp with people spending an average of 16 hours and 32 minutes a week messaging.

Following closely behind are Worcester (15h 32mins), London (14h 42mins) and Liverpool (14h 33mins), with York (14h 17mins), Glasgow (13h 58mins), Nottingham (13h 54mins) and Belfast (13h 52mins) making up the rest of the top ten.

Headway/Unsplash

It turns out Peterborough is the UK city least addicted to social media. Participants spend 75% less time scrolling through socials than here in Manchester, recording a weekly average of just 4 hours and 2 minutes.

Ranking second is Bristol with residents spending an average of 4 hours and 50 minutes on social media, closely followed by Armagh (5h 16mins), Newport (5h 44mins) and Birmingham (6h 1min) ranking third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

According to Addictivetips TikTok is the most addictive social media site, with Brits spending an average of 12 hours and 12 minutes on the platform.

YouTube comes in second (12h 4mins), followed by Facebook (11h 59 mins), Twitter (11h 56mins) and Instagram (11h 46mins).