Nielsen asked, "What Times of Day Are Key Social and Messaging Apps Most Heavily Used?" Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Twitter all show similar usage curves during a typical day, though Tumblr tends to see heavier usage in the late evening and early morning hours, reveals Nielsen in a recent analysis.

"The figures indicate that 6PM is the peak hour for Facebook Messenger, while Twitter and Instagram usage are highest at 7PM and 8PM, respectively," according to Marketing Charts. "Tumblr use, which is lower during the traditional work hours, peaks at 10PM."

"The figures are based on share of total minutes spent, which is the percentage of total minutes spent on an app during the reporting month that took place in that given hour across all days," Marketing Charts reported. "For example, the results indicate that slightly more than 6.4% of total Tumblr usage during the month occurred at 10PM."

"There are also a few apps that blur the lines between social networking communication and messaging," according to Nielsen's Got a Minute? "Within this genre, usage across Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Messenger follows remarkably consistent bell curves. Only at night do the apps begin to show their colors. Facebook Messenger gives way a touch earlier than Twitter and Instagram, and Tumblr’s share of minutes doesn’t decline until a bit later into the night. From an audience perspective, Facebook’s products draw a higher share of their active users this month through the middle of the day. No matter the media, we do see people up quite late."

"The apps show more differences in usage when sorting by share of unique audience," Marketing Charts said. "This metric measures the percentage of all unique users in the reporting month who used the app at least once in any given hour any day that month. For Instagram, users were most likely to sign in at 8PM (also the heaviest hour of usage), with almost 57% doing so at least once during that hour. Facebook Messenger use is most commonplace at 5PM (~55% of unique users signing in at least once then). Interestingly, Tumblr – which is most heavily used at night – was most commonly used at 10AM, with roughly 46% of unique users using the app at least once during that hour. Twitter, meanwhile, tends to draw a smaller share of unique users than the other apps at most hours of the day, with the largest share (42%) using the app at least once at 6PM."

"In looking at the differences between Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, Nielsen finds that Snapchat usage is more heavily weighted towards the afternoon and evening hours, peaking at 6PM with 6.1% of total usage. Snapchat users appear to be more heavily engaged with the app than Facebook Messenger users: a greater share of its users signed in at least once during the month at each hour of the day. Snapchat use appears to be most common at 8PM, when more than two-​thirds (68.7%) of users signed in at least once. By comparison, a relatively smaller 55% of Facebook Messenger users signed in at least once at 5PM, the most common hour for Messenger use."

This is great knowledge for any of your advertisers wanting to get more leverage out of Tumblr! According to AudienceSCAN, 8.3% of U.S. adults have participated on Tumblr in the past 30 days, and they are on the younger side, with 36.7% aged 18 to 24. 17% of this audience is LGBTQIA. Tumblr can be a great space for any of your advertisers participating in upcoming arts festivals – because 36% of users plan to attend arts fests this year. 39.4% of Tumblrs are checking it on their iPhones. They are 175% more likely than average consumers to shop on Etsy, and they are shopping for artwork (includes framing and paintings).

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.