Icelanders Top the List in Social Media Usage

The use of social media is more common in Iceland than in any other country within the European Economic Area, according to Eurostat, Morgunblaðið reports. It is estimated that about 91 percent of Icelanders use social media, while in Norway, which ranks second, the usage is estimated at 82 percent. Among the 28 EU nations, the average usage is 56 percent.

Social network participation includes activities such as creating a user profile, posting messages or other contributions to social networks.

Guðrún Katrín Jóhannsdóttir, sociologist and counselor at Streituskólinn, a service which provides counseling regarding stress and burnout, states that the use of social media isn’t necessarily negative.

“The usage has various negative and various positive aspects. There is so much we can follow on social media – we can follow news of the family, as well as news from the media,” she explains.

Compared to other nations, there is record usage among Icelanders aged 65 to 74, or 65 percent. Among EU member nations, the average usage in this age group was 19 percent. Ranking second in this age group are North-Macedonians, 55 percent of whom use social media.

“This age group can follow their children and grandchildren on social media,” states Guðrún Katrín.

Younger Icelanders, aged 16 to 24, are at the top as well, for 98 percent of them use social media. They’re followed by the people of Denmark, the Czech Republic, Montenegro and Croatia, 97 percent of whom use social media in this age group.

The nation using social media the least is the French, 42 percent of whom use social media and only 13 percent of those aged 65 to 74.