TikTok makes 4 cents from an hour of your life. Reddit makes 20.

I divided every platform's revenue by the hours people spend on it. TikTok earns 4 cents per hour of you. Reddit earns five times more.

Q2 2026 earnings. Public filings. Simple math.

Revenue per user ÷ hours per user.

What one hour of attention earns them, average user worldwide:

TikTok: \~4¢

YouTube: \~3¢ (and about half goes to creators)

Meta (Facebook + Instagram): \~9¢

Snapchat: \~10¢

Pinterest: \~12¢

Reddit: \~20¢

Live in the US? Your hour costs more.

Snapchat, North America: \~20¢

Reddit, US: \~35¢

Meta, US: 75-90¢

The platform that takes the most time pays the least for it.

TikTok has you 95 minutes a day. Reddit has you 20.

Reddit still earns five times more per hour.

Time isn't the product. Intent is.

On Reddit you came with a question. "Best hiking boots under $150." "Is this car a lemon." Advertisers pay for people who want something.

On TikTok you came to disappear. Nobody pays much for that.

Scrolling is cheap. Searching is expensive.

Now your side of the deal.

The average person spends 2 hours 21 minutes a day on social media.

858 hours a year. 36 full days.

At platform prices, those 36 days are worth about $90.

At the US federal minimum wage, $6,200.

You're not the customer. You're not even premium product.

You're bulk.

Method: Q2 2026 revenue per user from earnings reports, divided by average daily minutes from app-tracking studies. TikTok and YouTube from ad revenue estimates. Rough numbers, but the ranking holds.