People spend more time with Facebook than actual friends

Marketwatch reports:

Facebook Inc. is apparently more popular than face-to-face interactions or books.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an earnings call Wednesday that users of Facebook, photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging app Messenger spent an average of more than 50 minutes a day using those services. The average did not include another Facebook-owned messaging app, WhatsApp.

That is more time than Americans spend socializing with others or reading, according to the American Time Use Survey, an annual product of the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the most recent survey, Americans averaged 43 minutes a day socializing, “such as visiting with friends or attending or hosting social events.”

Imagine that.