NEW YORK: Many US viewers are becoming more active while watching television, judging by the findings in a new report that illustrates the explosive growth in people who watch TV while connected to social media on smartphones and tablets.

The Nielsen company said that one in three people using Twitter in June sent messages at some point about the content of television shows, an increase of 27 per cent from only five months earlier.

“Twitter has become the second screen experience for television,” said Deirdre Bannon, vice president of social media at Nielsen.

Social networking is becoming so pervasive that the study found nearly a third of people aged 18-to-24 reported using the sites while in the bathroom.

An estimated 41 per cent of tablet owners and 38 per cent of smartphone owners used their device while also watching television at least once a day.

As rapid as the use of social media while on television is growing in the US, it already lags behind other countries.

Nielsen said that 63 per cent of people in the Middle East or Africa report using social media while on TV, and 52 per cent of people in Latin America.