The Infinite Dial is the longest-running survey of digital media consumer behavior in America. It tracks mobile behaviour, internet audio, podcasting, social media, smart speakers and lots more data in the digital space.
Here are our seven takeaways from this year’s report:
- Almost everyone has a smartphone
A decade ago only half of people had a smartphone, but that has increased to more than nine in every ten, with only 9% not owning one.
- Smart speaker ownership has doubled in five years
Since 2018, the number of people owning a smart speaker has doubled, although growth appears to have stalled over the last few years.
- More people know Facebook than any other social network
Guess what? Almost everyone knows Facebook…and Instagram and TikTok and Twitter. In bad news for Donald Trump, Truth Social comes in a long way down the list.
- The older generation prefer Facebook
TikTok and Instagram may be popular with GenZ, but the over-55s still prefer Facebook. And looking at the trends, they are turning away from Instagram and TikTok to Twitter (despite, or perhaps due to, Elon Musk’s takeover).
- Spotify leads the way in audio
Yes Apple and Amazon both have their music offerings, but around three times as many people use Spotify for their listening.
- Podcast listening keeps going up
The number of Americans listening to podcasts has increased 16% this decade and 137% in the last 10 years. [Are you listening to The Ski Podcast yet?]
- A third of people listen to podcasts
The survey found that a third of people listen to podcasts every week, with an average of nine podcasts being listened to per person.
