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Why women check social media more than men

By Jeff Clabaugh

WASHINGTON — If you’re a social media holdout, you are an increasingly rare breed.

D.C.-based business news and how-to website The Manifest says 86 percent of Americans now use social media every day. Women are more likely than men to check in repeatedly throughout the day.

“This is definitely generally speaking and it is not true for all women or all men, but women tend to be more communicative in general, so it makes sense that they are on social media more often,” Kristen Herhold at The Manifest told WTOP.

“I know for me, I am always checking Instagram to see what my friends are up to, versus my boyfriend who goes on social media much less often, and it comes down to I have a lot more friends who are posting more often so there is more for me to see,” she said.

Facebook remains the most-used social media channel, but The Manifest says use of other social platforms is growing faster, particularly YouTube and Instagram.

Nearly two-thirds of social media consumers report they are using YouTube and Instagram more this year than they were last year, compared to 52 percent of Facebook users who said so.

“Facebook is still the giant, but that is starting to change, especially with the teenagers. They are not using Facebook as often. So as they become more prominent consumers, Facebook’s status as the most popular will probably change,” Herhold said.

Social media users access social media the majority of the time — 67 percent — from mobile apps now.

The top six social media channels people use at least once a week are Facebook (82 percent), YouTube (75 percent), Instagram (53 percent), Snapchat (39 percent), Pinterest (38 percent) and Twitter (36 percent).

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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