The impact of social media on work and users' daily lives goes far beyond entertainment, according to a study by the Washington Technology Policy Institute in the United States. In addition to decreasing productivity at work, these sites also affect users' sleep and reduce the number of in-person meetings with friends.

For every hour spent using social media, about 16 minutes of work are lost – at the end of a day, this adds up to about six and a half hours less. Over the course of a month, that's eight fewer work days. The number equals about 25% less productivity on average.

According to the study, encounters with friends also decrease, with 17 minutes lost in the "real world". In a year, this amounts to about 18 fewer days spent on the task of seeing friends. In terms of sleep hours, seven minutes are wasted.

To carry out the study, economist Scott Wallsten analyzed eight years of US government data on the online habits of Americans between 2003 and 2011.

According to the researcher, time lost in the "real world" can end up affecting the economy, although he states that further research is needed on these "possible damages".

In the case of young people, internet usage has affected the time they dedicate to studying. People between the ages of 15 and 19 waste 0.3 minutes of study time to browse social media. At the end of the day, this amounts to about seven hours.

TV viewing time is also declining. For every minute of online activity, 0.28 minutes less are spent watching television. This amounts to almost seven hours less per day.

So, what do you think? Now you already know the impact of social media on work.

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