Moms spend twice as much time online as members of the general population do, according to BabyCenter. Moms spend an average of 66 hours online each month, compared with 33 hours among adults overall.
Eight in 10 moms use social media regularly, compared to just over half of the general population. More than half of moms access social media on their mobile devices, and six in 10 use mobile Internet.
Moms are about evenly split in saying that becoming a parent has increased or decreased the amount of time they spend with various media. For example, 29% of moms say they use the Internet less since they had children, but 32% say they use it more.
The demands of parenting create a shift in how moms use media — and in the degree to which they rely on it for information and support.
While many moms have less time to devote to “live” consumption of TV or radio, they rely on social media, parenting websites, and search engines for parenting advice and product information. They make extensive use of devices that give them greater control over when and how they consume media and connect with others. When asked how their media habits have changed in the past three years, 45% of moms (vs. 24% of the general population) say they need access to media whenever and wherever they have free time.
Moms spend more time than the general population reading magazines to which they subscribe (10.4 hours vs. 8.1 hours monthly), but slightly less time watching TV (158 hours vs. 161 hours). They’re 42% more likely than the general population to watch TV using time-shifting (such as DVRs or VOD). Moms who own tablets are 12% more likely than the average tablet owner to watch TV on these devices. Time-shifted viewing accounts for 17% of the total time moms spend watching TV.
Moms are more likely than the general population to combine video, movie, or TV viewing with other media use, such as social media (49% vs. 23%), using the Internet via tablet or mobile phone (41% vs. 27%), and text messaging (41% vs. 17%).
Half of online moms (50%) are Facebook friends with their kids, and a quarter (25%) are Facebook friends with their parents, according to Crowd Science.
One in 10 moms are early adopters of technology — saying they tend to buy new tech devices when they first come out. Eight in 10 have shared something they found online with family or friends within the past 30 days. Almost one in five moms (17%) maintain blogs.
Although more than half of moms (57%) agree with the statement, “I’m generally a happy person,” 17% admit to feeling more stress than they can handle.
Sources: “2012 American Media Mom,” BabyCenter, Mike Fogarty, SVP/Global Publisher, 163 Frelon St., San Francisco, CA 94107; 646-487-6380; 21centurymom@babycenter.com; www.babycentersolutions.com.
“Moms Online: Staying Connected,” Crowd Science, May 2012, Paul Neto, Co-founder/VP Research & Operations, 1735 Technology Dr., #780, San Jose, CA 95110; 408-573-7889; info@crowdscience.com.
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