A fascinating new study of American media consumption provides many insights, but they can all be summed up as: 20-somethings are sexting, 30-somethings are nerds, 40-somethings are online wingnuts, and we're all fucking zombies.

The *average* person spends 8.5 hours a day in front of some sort of media screen. That's more than the average person sleeps! An hour of that, one full hour, every single day, is ads. And 99% of our video-watching is on TV. Fuck you, Tube! Demographically, we're all drooling brainwashed playthings in our own special ways:

The data shows that 18-to-24-year-olds - generally college students and new entrants into the work force - watch the smallest amount of live TV of any age group (three and a half hours a day), spend the most time text messaging (29 minutes a day) and watch the most online video (5.5 minutes a day).

Slightly older viewers, those ages 25 to 34, spend the most time of any group watching DVD or VCR videos. People ages 35 to 44 spend more time on the Web than other groups, 74 minutes a day on average. The next demographic, 45 to 54 years old, spends the most time on e-mail. Consumers over the age of 65 watch the most live TV, according to the research.

And meanwhile, who's overtaking us in double dutch? The Japanese. [NYT]