Age Differences in Media Multitasking: A Diary Study

Abstract

This study provides insight in age differences in the amount of media multitasking and in the media that people combine. Results of a diary study (N = 3,048) among 13- to 65-year-olds reject the popular notion that media multitasking is particularly prevalent among young people. The youngest (13–16 years) and the oldest (50–65 years) age groups did distinguish themselves in terms of media combinations. The youngest group particularly combined music with online activities, whereas the oldest group was unique in combining radio with e-mail or newspapers. A plausible explanation for these age differences in media multitasking are lifespan related and generational differences in media use in general.

Notes

The authors wish to thank SPOT, especially Tom van Hulst and Paul van Niekerk, for making the data available for secondary analyses and Peter Neijens for comments on earlier versions of this article.

¹The detailed list of all activities, the format of the notebooks, and screenshots of the online diary are available upon request.

²We were not able to statistically test these differences because the data were provided in media planning software.

³Tables describing all details can be obtained from the authors.