We all know that cell phones and social media platforms have become a social norm in 2018. In the U.S. alone, the use of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have doubled since 2012 and the numbers are still growing, according to Pew Research Center. It is hard to determine whether these platforms have had a negative or positive effect on the population. There is no denying that most social media usage happens from the cell phones of millennials. More specifically, college students. Which is why this was our targeted demographic.

Prior research on social media use among the ages of 18 to 24 indicates that they use some form of social media. Studies show that Americans ages 18 to 24 are far more likely to use Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter than people who are between 30 and 50 years old.

Since our topic of research is how social media use affects reading habits, it is also important to look at how reading habits have changed over the past few years. One study done by Pew Research Center suggests that the number of American adults who read books has gone down from 79% in 2011 to 72% in 2015. Approximately 73% of Americans say they have read at least one book in the last year, which is a 6% decrease since 2011.
These days, people can access books in several digital formats. The most common digital formats are e-books (copies of books that are accessed through the internet), and audiobooks, which are most commonly accessed through an app called Audible. Even with several new formats to choose from, the same study found that only 6% of American get their books through the non-paper formats.
Previous research done in 2016 by Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, points to a correlation between social media use and reading habits. She says that in the 1970s, the number of high school seniors who read a book, magazine, or newspaper every day was 60%. A study done in 2016 found that that number dropped to 16% of high school seniors who read every day.

These statistics are significant to our research because they give us solid evidence that the number of teens who read has plummeted, while those who use social media platforms has risen. When we tie all the previous research together, we have a strong direction for our research.