• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 18, 2016

People like mobile devices, social media, and online video – so it’s no surprise the amount of time they spend watching online video from social media on their mobile devices is set to explode over the next few years, according to a new forecast from The Diffusion Group.

Diffusion predicts that the total amount of time U.S. consumers spend watching social mobile video (let’s call it SoMoVi) will soar from 684 million minutes per day this year to a remarkable 7.4 billion minutes per day by 2025. In proportional terms, that represents an increase from 17% of total smartphone video consumption to 43% during this period. Currently smartphone video consumption of all kinds comes to 8.6 hours per week, out of a total of over 50 hours of screen time of various kinds.

Crunching the numbers a bit more, with 212 million Americans using social media per Pew, the average U.S. social media user currently watches about 3.2 minutes of SoMoVi daily. Assuming the U.S. social media population reaches roughly 235 million by 2025, daily average SoMoVi viewing time by social media users will increase to around 31.5 minutes per day.

The Diffusion forecast is roughly in line with recent predictions from other research outfits. In July Zenith Optimedia released a report showing that total mobile video consumption (not just social) worldwide would surpass online video consumption on desktop computers and smart TV sets this year, with a global average of 19.7 minutes per day for the former compared to 16 minutes for the latter. The mobile figure is up 39% from 14.2 minutes per day in 2015.

Looking ahead, Zenith Optimedia predicts that mobile video consumption would continue to grow by double digit percentage over the next few years, reaching 33.4 minutes per day by 2018, at which point it will represent 64% of total online video viewing.  

No surprise, big social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat are all piling into mobile video with new services and content deals. Earlier this week Facebook’s Instagram launched a new channel, Events, in its Explore tab, recommending content based on the channels and accounts user already follow.