People in the UK will spend nearly 5 years of their life doomscrolling
Key Points
- A new study commissioned by Virgin Media O2 has found that people in the UK will spend almost five years of their waking lives doomscrolling on their phones without purpose.
- People now spend almost one-and-a-half hours every day using their phones unintentionally.
- Many say they are addicted to their phones, and most people report at least one negative side effect of unintentional phone usage.
People living in the UK are on track to spend almost five years of their waking lives using their phones unintentionally, which has a severe impact on sleep, focus, and mental health.
This is according to a new study commissioned by Virgin Media O2, which examined the smartphone usage habits of more than 6,000 people in the UK and found that over the average person’s life, they will spend four years and eight months doomscrolling without purpose.
Researchers found that more than a third of phone use in the UK now takes place without a clear purpose. This is equivalent to people spending about 1 and a half hours every day using their phone without any clear objective.
People who reported high levels of unintentional phone usage had poorer sleep, reduced focus, and lower mental wellbeing.
41% of those surveyed report poor sleep as a result of their unintentional phone or internet usage, and 23% say their attention span is shorter as a result of this doomscrolling habit.
In total, 74% of people in the UK are experiencing at least one negative effect linked to their smartphone use, which may point to a larger problem with smartphone habits and algorithm design.
While awareness of the dangers of undirected smartphone usage is rising amongst the UK population, curbing the issue is not as simple as a matter of willpower.
More than four in ten people say they have little or no control over how they use their phone or the internet, and 37% say they are addicted to their devices.
“The findings of Virgin Media O2’s landmark study show that what we perceive as our choice about how we use our devices is undermined by the immersive nature of the technology,” said University of Cambridge Senior Research Fellow Dr Eleanor Drage.
“We are not using our devices in the way we intend. The widening gap between our intentions and our actions will not be resolved by individuals.
“Efforts to transform digital wellbeing require systemic change, including reshaping the environments within which we engage with technology,” she said.
On the back of this report, Virgin Media O2 has set out a long-term approach to improving digital wellbeing, providing users with a tool to assess their phone usage habits as well as the option to hear a pre-recorded WhatsApp voice message from Spice Girl Mel B which encourages them to take a break from their phones.
Social media algorithms under scrutiny
Smartphone usage, doomscrolling, and the dangers of social media algorithms are squarely in the crosshairs of UK regulators and government officials.
Most recently, London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned of the dangers of social media platforms promoting toxic masculinity and manosphere influencers.
He said platforms take responsibility for the algorithms that are pushing hateful and misogynistic content to young men’s feeds.
Khan also expressed his support for a ban on social media for users under the age of 16, a measure which is currently being explored by the government to curb the deleterious effects of doomscrolling on the UK’s youth.
