We May Underestimate The Power of Social Media (But Business Can Work within Its Constraints)

Writing in the 1740s, Voltaire declared “Three things exercise a constant influence over the minds of men, climate, government and religion.”1 About two decades later he returned to this line of thought and added a fourth “thing” — increases in population size. 

We can imagine that were Voltaire writing now, he might have included a fifth — the internet, or more specifically, social media. The average social media user spends around 2-3 hours per day on platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, SnapChat and WhatsApp. This figure increases to 4-5 hours per day for many younger users,2 comparable to the time that we spend with partners and co-workers.3 Statistics such as these often provoke gloomy protests from parents and teachers that all this time viewing social media could be better spent with friends, in physical activities, or learning.