How much time do Indians spend on social media, playing games?

New Delhi: Indian users on average spend more than three hours on social media and about 46 minutes on online gaming per day, a new report said on Thursday.

According to the technology policy think tank Esya Centre, daily engagement in terms of time spent is the highest for social media at 194 minutes a day, while this number for OTT (over-the-top) and online gaming stands at 44 minutes and 46 minutes, respectively.

A median user spends less than Rs 100 a month and less than an hour a day on online gaming. The corresponding number is Rs 200-400 for OTT.

The report surveyed 2,000 respondents and was further supported by in-app data from over 20.6 lakh users, spanning across 143 mobile applications.

“We believe that the findings of the report are very relevant, especially at a time when the Government is in the process of formulating user-centric policies for the digital industries,” said Amjad Ali Khan, Director at the Esya Centre.

Moreover, users said that a 30 per cent hike in participation fee for online games may lead to a 71 per cent dip in engagement, indicating a high price sensitivity. This number would only be 17 per cent for OTT, the report said.

While OTT is considered a significant stress buster, 28 per cent of Digital Nagriks consider online gaming important for their employment prospects.

“While technology is dynamic, consumption patterns are more predictable. Therefore, building a profile of a Digital Nagrik and their consumption patterns can form the crux to an agile policy ecosystem for the three sectors. An attempt our report aims to make,” said Rajat Sharma, Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

According to the report, while all users are active on social media once a month, the corresponding number for OTT and online gaming is 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively.

About 89 per cent of users are active every day on social media, while only 22 per cent and 12 per cent are active on OTT and online gaming, respectively.