Social media overtakes entertainment as favourite online activity

Time spent on sites including Facebook, Gawker Media and Reddit account for 17% of all time people in the UK spend online

Social media has overtaken entertainment as the UK's favourite activity online, accounting for almost a fifth of the two hours and 51 minutes a day people in the UK on average spend on the web.

Social media use - including time on sites such as Reddit or Gawker Media that are built on blog platforms - accounted for nearly 17% of all time online, up from 12.2% a year ago, according to research commissioned by the Internet Advertising Bureau.