UK adults spent an average of four hours and 30 minutes online daily in 2025, according to Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report, exceeding the levels recorded during the pandemic by 31 minutes and raising new questions about how extended screen time is affecting wellbeing.
Shifts in Online Time and Public Attitudes
Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman told the BBC that the duration itself was not necessarily harmful but said the impact depended on what online activity displaced and how that displacement could affect mental health. He added that society was beginning to scrutinise online habits more critically. The report found that adults felt less positive overall about the internet’s role. Only 33% said it was “good for society,” down from 40% in 2024, though nearly two thirds still believed the benefits outweighed the risks. Many respondents said the internet supported creativity, with about three quarters stating that being online helped broaden their understanding of the world.
The findings followed a year in which the UK Netflix drama Adolescence gained attention for depicting misogynistic online content, adding context to shifting public sentiment about digital spaces.
Children’s Online Behaviour and Emerging Concepts
The report examined the online experiences of children aged 8 to 17. More than eight in ten said they were happy with the amount of time they spent on the internet but also recognised negative effects from extended scrolling. Some described the sense of mental fatigue that followed heavy smartphone use with the term “brain rot,” a phrase increasingly used to refer to overconsuming content that is not mentally stimulating.
Ofcom found that up to a quarter of the time 8- to 14-year-olds spent on four major platforms—YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp—occurred between 21:00 and 05:00. The prevalence of late-night use coincided with new rules under the Online Safety Act, which required websites hosting pornography to introduce robust age checks from 25 July.
Rising and Falling Use of VPNs After Age Verification Rules
The survey reported a sharp increase in VPN use after the new age-verification measures took effect. Daily users rose from about 650,000 before July to more than 1.4 million in mid-August, suggesting many people were bypassing location-based restrictions. By November, usage had decreased to around 900,000. VPNs allow users to obscure their location and appear to be accessing the internet from another country.
Online Wellbeing Tools and Emerging Pressures
Among children aged 13 to 17, 69% said they used online services to support their wellbeing, often to relax or improve their mood. More than half said they had used ASMR content, a genre that emerged over a decade ago and is associated with a tingling sensation that some viewers find calming. The popularity of ASMR has led to a large ecosystem of creators producing specialised videos on platforms such as YouTube.
However, children also reported negative experiences. Seventy percent said they encountered problems with self-improvement media, including messaging they described as toxic or focused on body shaming.
Featured image credits: Pexels
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.