Is ちなみに just way more commonly used by younger people or is there maybe a certain “type” of person that would use it super frequently?

I recently got a new conversation tutor about a month ago, she's in her 20s and is an otaku. I swear every time she wants to change what we're talking about she uses ちなみに. In the hour we spend talking in Japanese, she has to be saying it a dozen+ times. Every single lesson. All of my prior teachers were older (not old but older than 20s), and also we were more focused on textbook practice with just a bit of free talking to catch up for the week at the beginning of our lessons. Is this like something that Japanese people do when they're talking without a script for real? Or is this just a speech habit unique to her?

Edit: I could also just maybe be misunderstanding what ちなみに is? I always thought it was like ところで with the meaning of "btw", but it seems almost like she's using it in place of a conjunction that's more akin to そして or それに