Study finds half of UK students doomscroll instead of being productive
Key Points
- New research from Virgin Media O2 has found that more than half of students in the UK spend at least an hour a day doomscrolling.
- 52% of students say they spend at least an hour a day aimlessly scrolling instead of being productive.
- Students said about half of their total phone usage time was unintentional, and 81% said they sometimes pick up their phone and start using it without thinking.
- They are cognizant of the negative aspects of this screen time, with 70% noting they feel worse after spending an unintentionally long time on their phone.
More than half of students in the United Kingdom spend at least an hour a day aimlessly using their phone when they want to be productive.
This is according to research from Virgin Media O2, which found that university students are on track to each spend 510 hours using their phones unintentionally during the teaching year.
This data comes from the company’s digital wellbeing study, which was conducted over 18 months and generated more than 15,000 responses from people across the country.
While the wider population also reports issues with unintentional phone usage, university students are far more likely to report doomscrolling interfering with their productivity.
According to the research, 52% of university students spend at least an hour a day aimlessly scrolling instead of being productive, much higher than the national average of 27%.
Students also reported that 49% of their total phone usage time was unintentional, significantly higher than the national average of 36%.
Almost two thirds of students pick up or check their phone at least 30 times a day without a specific reason, and 81% say they sometimes pick up their phone and start using it without thinking.
While a student’s habit of checking their phone may be interfering with their productivity by sucking them into aimlessly scrolling, app notifications and alerts compete more directly for their attention.
More than half of Brits blame push notifications for constantly checking their phone, and 40% say features like infinite scroll trap them in phone usage for longer than intended.
The hours before bed are one of the worst times of day for unintentional phone usage, with 45% of students saying that they are most likely to pick up their phone without a specific reason during this time.
Students in the United Kingdom are aware of the negative component of this unintentional usage, with 70% reporting that they often feel worse after spending an unintentionally long time on their device.
“Being connected has never been easier, but being in control of our attention has arguably never been harder,” said Virgin Media O2 Chief Sustainability Officer Dana Haidan.
“That’s the paradox facing a generation of students who rely on their phones for almost every aspect of daily life.”
“What stands out is that students recognise how the noise from their phones and the cultural pressure to always be available are affecting their focus, and many want help to manage it,” Haidan said.
Haidan added that Virgin Media O2 is working on improving digital wellbeing for people in the UK, funding research led by the University of Cambridge to track how people use generative AI over the next five years.
