Filipinos spend 11 years of their lives on social media – report

Filipinos topped the 45 countries surveyed on how long they spend time on social media during their lifetime.

According to a report by Tina Panganiban-Perez on GMA News “24 Oras” on Wednesday, it is said that based on the report of the online marketplace OnBuy.com, Filipinos spend approximately 102,054 hours or the equivalent of more than 11 years.

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This is a long time if it is considered that Filipinos’ lives have an average life expectancy of 72 years.

According to a sociologist, it can be said that a person has social media addiction if he spends more time on social media than other meaningful activities.

“Depende sa individual kasi you have to break it down. Kung ‘yong total number of hours na ‘yan, example sa isang 24-hour day, halos kalahati ng oras mo ginugugol mo lang sa social media, then mayroon kang overlapping problem. Kasi ibig sabihin, the time that you spend on social media can be used more productively,” explained Bro. Clifford Sorita.

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Social media is not bad, but the focus should be balanced, according to Sorita.

Filipinos spend 11 years of their lives on social media – report

In fact, social media can be used to connect with relatives and friends and get information. But it does not have a good effect on people if time is spent here just to become popular and get a lot of likes, shares, and comments.

To overcome social media addiction, Sorita said it is necessary to look for other activities that are useful indoors or outdoors.

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You should also set a time to “unplug” and have a quiet moment for yourself.

About 2,153 people participated in the OnBuy survey from 45 countries.

Columbia followed the Philippines with an average of 101,288 hours on social media, while Japan is the country that is not too obsessed with social media.

In October, an electronic commerce aggregator reported that Filipinos increased their  by 57 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest growth in Southeast Asia.

According to the iPrice Group’s Map of E-commerce Report, the figure was double the 24-percent average “basket size” growth recorded for the region’s six major economies. “Basket size” refers to the amount added to an “online cart” in the digital shopping platforms.