0 comments
A new survey by Ofcom has found that those aged 18-34 are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the internet, regarding it as detrimental for their mental health and society at large.
It looks as though young people may be less enthusiastic about the internet and its wider consequences than older generations, at least according to a new survey by Ofcom.
The organisation found that British Gen Zers are increasingly regarding the internet as a damaging space for society and their mental health. Only one third of those surveyed said they believed the internet was ‘good’ for the world, a decline from 42% the previous year.
Interestingly, the numbers also fell for older age groups, though not as sharply. In fact, those aged 55 or older were more positive about the internet compared to Gen Z.
35% of those aged 18-34 disagreed that the internet helped their mental health, an increase of 7% over 2024, suggesting a worsening disillusionment among young people.
Ofcom asked 7,340 adults of different ages about their relationship with the internet as part its Annual Online Narion report. It is designed to better understand how we use online platforms day to day, and how they shape and affect our perception of wider society.
You can read the full report here.
However, while more of us are disliking the internet, the amount of time we spend on it is actually growing.
Gen Z reportedly spend an average of six hours and 20 minutes per day online via their personal devices (iPhones, tablets, etc) while the overall average is only four hours and 30 minutes. Keep in mind that this doesn’t include screen time at work.
What could be causing a change in attitude?
For one, the emergence of AI and auto-generated visual content has made it harder than ever to know what is real and what isn’t online, making information and research less useful. With no way of reliably authenticating anything we see on social media, its ability to properly inform dwindles dramatically.
We’ve also seen greater conversation around echo-chambers and toxic forums this year, with the ‘manosphere’ phenomena being of particular concern in the UK.
It’s becoming clearer how the internet and social media is steering young people toward increasingly extreme political or social attitudes, worsening gender divides and feelings of unhappiness.
