INSTRUCTION CARD 2 OF 8
How far do you scroll in a day?
About 0.4 km a day by the two published estimates, and nobody has measured it. On Reels the better count is swipes: each one moves your thumb a few centimetres, so 300 swipes is about 24 m.
What the estimates say
- Fasthosts: 0.38 km a day, 141.9 km a year, from 108 minutes a day in apps and an assumed 30 cm of scroll every 5 seconds. fasthosts.co.uk
- A study paid for by TollFreeForwarding.com: 85.97 miles a year for the average American, about the same 0.38 km a day. thehrdirector.com
- MEL Magazine, asking the same question in 2020, found no real research on it: every figure is minutes multiplied by a guessed speed. melmagazine.com
Both numbers count all scrolling, smooth and slow. A Reels feed is different: you flick once, the next video snaps in, you stop. So count the flicks and multiply.
Your own run
The bar at the top of this page does the same for your reading: each six tenths of a screen you scroll here counts as one swipe. It needs no permission, because it only sees this page.
Count the real number
highscroll is a free Android app that counts every Reel and TikTok you swipe and turns the day into a high score with the distance your thumb ran. It has no internet permission and no account. You can send the day as a card, and whoever opens it can add their own score to the table. How it counts, and the other counters.
Android only. The lock that sends you home at your own number: US$2.99.