Study shows Manchester is the UK city most addicted to social media

Many of us are spending more time on social media than ever at the moment.

Perhaps that’s not especially surprising, since our lives have become increasingly virtual over the last year.

But despite being a great way to stay in touch, these platforms can be highly addictive. So how much time do we really spend scrolling?

A new study from AddictiveTips.com asked 5,435 participants to record their weekly screen time for the most popular social media platforms over a six month period, from July 2020 to January 2021 .

And the results showed that Manchester is the UK city most addicted to social media.

Mancunians spend an average of 16 hours and 13 minutes a week scrolling through popular social sites, the survey revealed.

The most popular platform in Manchester is Facebook, with participants logging on for an average of 16 hours and 35 minutes a week.

Ranking second is Bradford, where residents spend approximately 16 hours and five minutes a week on social media – mostly 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 behind, among the cities most addicted to social media, are Worchester (15h 32mins), London (14h 42mins) and Liverpool (14h 33mins) respectively ranking fourth, fifth and sixth.

Peterborough, meanwhile, stands as the UK city least addicted to social media.

Participants from Peterborough spent 75% less time scrolling through socials then Manchester, recording a weekly average of just four hours and two minutes.

YouTube is also this region’s favourite  platform with users watching videos for an average of five hours and 50 minutes a week.

Ranking second from the bottom is Bristol, with residents spending an average of four hours and 50 minutes on social media, with the average participant spending six hours and 35 minutes on Facebook.

Also among the least addicted cities are Armagh (five hours and 16 mins), Newport (five hours and 44 mins) and Birmingham (six hours and one minute), ranking third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Across the country overall, TikTok was shown to be the most addictive social media site in the UK, with Brits spending an average of 12 hours and 12 minutes on the platform.

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

The rest of the UK’s top 10 most popular social sites is made up of Snapchat, WhatsApp, Tumblr, Reddit and Skype.