- A new report by Fasthosts uncovers the mileage that mobile users travel with their thumbs.
- On average people can scroll their way around Route 66 in almost 30 years.
Nowadays scrolling feels like second nature to mobile or tablet users. Despite being a user-friendly way to view a page or use an app, scrolling has an important role in web design, improves user experience significantly and it translates best to mobile devices. But have you ever wondered how many miles we scroll in a day?
To estimate how far users scroll with their thumb, Fasthosts has crunched the numbers to reveal just how far the average person travels daily. Based on this Statista study the average person in 2021 spent 108 minutes/6,480 seconds a day scrolling social media. This translates to 0.3888 km per day and 141.912 km per year.
To put these figures into perspective an average person can climb Mount Everest with just over 20 days of scrolling! Also, in just over 3 years users can drag their fingers a distance equal to that from the Earth to the Moon by scrolling their Instagram feeds or watching TikTok videos!
According to the findings, the distance users scroll per day on social media can be compared to more distances as follows:
| Distance/Road trip | KM | Miles | Number of days to be completed by scrolling |
| Trip around the globe | 40,075 | 24,901 | 103,073.56 |
| Earth-Moon distance | 384,400 | 238,855 | 988,683.13 |
| Earth-Mars distance | 225,000,000 | 139,808,866 | 578,703,703.70 |
| Route 66 | 3,940 | 2,448 | 10,133.74 |
| NC500 | 830.4 | 516 | 2,135.80 |
| Mt. Everest | 8.84886 | 5.49844 | 22.76 |
| London Marathon | 42.20 | 26.2 | 108.54 |
| Atlantic Highway | 392.00 | 243.58 | 1,008.23 |
So with just one daily quick whizz through a shameful sidebar of celebrity gossip, a scroll through your friends latest Instagram posts or even an hour long worth of TikTok entertainment – you could be scrolling the equivalent of almost 400 metres!
Michelle Stark, Sales and Marketing Director at Fasthosts comments: ‘‘Scrolling is an integral part of website design which helps keep users engaged with the content and less focused on the mechanics of browsing. What’s more, a smartphone’s display can be a window towards human interactions – be it news, sharing life’s moments, communicating or even running a business.
Our research showed just how much people browse apps nowadays which could even result in them reaching the peak of Mount Everest with their thumbs. When it comes to social media, scrolling can be quite addictive with the likes and comments been seen as rewards. So, whilst most people are scrolling enthusiasts it’s vital to be mindful of the amount of time spent online’
To find more about the distances users travel based on their scrolling habits click here: https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/blog/app-scrolling-distance/
