Temper social media use, netizens told

Filipinos spend nearly four hours a day on social media, international reports show.
Inquirer photo

COLLEGE student Milva Jane Villocero said she spends five hours a day browsing through her social media accounts to reconnect with old friends.

“Kay naa man koy interaction sa akong mga kaila nya bisan sa uban kay dili mi pirme magkita, at least ba updated gihapon kos ganap sa ilang life (It helps to interact with my friends I see only occasionally. At least, I get updates on their lives),” Villocero said.

In contrast Kreshna Sheen Hudson, a 16-year-old Grade 11 senior high school student, spends half a day online and admitted that social media could sometimes be a distraction to her studies.

“There are times when I have assignments, I do visit first social media, leaving me to forget that I still have things to do,” she said.

But Hudson said she considers social media a stress reliever.

Both students are evidence of the Philippines ranking among the top countries that spend the most time on social media based on reports of websites We Are Social and Hootsuite.

Their reports showed that an average Filipino user would spend three hours and 57 minutes, or almost 4 hours on social media every day.

The Philippines is followed by Brazil whose citizens spend three hours and 39 minutes on social media and Indonesia with three hours and 23 minutes.

Japan spends the least time on social media with an average of 48 minutes, based on the survey conducted by Global Web Index in the second and third quarter last year.

Regional Director Jaime Bernadas of the Department of Health (DOH-7) said it is unhealthy to invest more time on social media sites.

“Children who spend too much time on Facebook are still awake even early in the morning. They forget their time to study and to sleep,” he said.

Left unchecked, Bernadas said social media usage could severely affect work productivity and even socialization.

“Like any habit, social media usage should be in moderation,” he said.