Brits admit hours of bad news is hitting their sex lives
A poll of 2,000 adults explored the impact of consuming 'endless' negative stories on the web – finding the UK collectively spends 67.4 million hours a day doom scrolling. That's 96 minutes every day in total – the equivalent of two days during the course of an average month.
The research highlights the detrimental impact on productivity and creativity, with one in ten participants admitting that their online habits have led them to decline sexual activity due to feelings of exhaustion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed.
Commissioned by OnePlus, the study aims to draw attention to the excessive digital consumption issue.
In addition, the brand has unveiled Brain Rot Blaster: a retro-style, one-time-play first-person shooter game designed to break the cycle of endless scrolling.
Smartphone brand representative Celina Shi remarked: "It's easy to fall into mindless scrolling - at home, at work, even around loved ones. We're encouraging people to take back control of their screen time and use their phones with more purpose."
Further findings from the poll revealed that nearly half of those surveyed frequently lose track of time while scrolling, with 22 per cent completely unaware of the extent of their scrolling habits.
But for the 52 percent who wish they had more hours in the day, cutting back on scrolling could help them make time for the things they say matter most.
This ranges from seeing family and spending time in nature, as well as being more creative or learning a new language.
Four in 10 scrollers admit to doing so on the toilet, and and a whopping half are caught scrolling in the presence of friends and family.
Some have also indulged in online doom scrolling while at important events such as a wedding or funeral.
Celina added: "Why lose hours to the scroll, when you could be creating something that inspires you instead?
"Brain Rot Blaster takes on the creativity-crushing, productivity-sapping scroll, challenging users to rethink their habits and up their game."
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I took my family on a digital detox holiday and something extraordinary happened
It was a Thursday evening and, with the day's work behind us, my family and I settled in to watch TV together. But just a few minutes after Race Across the World started, I looked up and saw that every one of us was glued to a different screen. Alex, my husband, was staring at his phone, 14-year-old Ted was playing on his iPad, Coco, 12, was texting her friends, and Alfie, 9, was on the Nintendo. If I wasn't laughing at celebrity death pranks on my laptop, I would have been really cross. Everyone was in a completely different world. Yet this behaviour is also completely normal. As a nation, we are addicted to our devices, to varying degrees. The average Brit loses a weekend a month doomscrolling; that's 96 minutes a day, and for Gen Z, that jumps to 143 minutes, according to recent research from global technology brand OnePlus. So, I proposed a digital detox, and amazingly, everyone agreed. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. We started with the parameters. Can I listen to music on my phone? No. Can I text my friends? No. Does the screen ban begin in the car? Hell, no. As a journalist, I am perpetually online, and my gen-alpha kids have never known a time without the internet. I have first-hand experience of a primary-age boy showing girls porn on his phone, vile misogyny and bullying on unmonitored WhatsApp groups and through my work I've spoken to too many bereaved parents left with unanswered questions about social media's role in their death to allow my family to sleepwalk into unfettered phone use. So I want the family to experience a few days offline. Researchers at Heidelberg University and the University of Cologne recently conducted a study that shows that just 72 hours without a smartphone can significantly alter brain activity. So we pack our bags and head for the Mole Valley Resort in the heart of Devon. As soon as we arrived, we put all our screens in the safe. 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Brits admit hours of bad news is hitting their sex lives
A study of 2,000 adults found the UK collectively spends 67.4 million hours a day scrolling and it's having a negative impact on our wellbeing. A poll of 2,000 adults explored the impact of consuming 'endless' negative stories on the web – finding the UK collectively spends 67.4 million hours a day doom scrolling. That's 96 minutes every day in total – the equivalent of two days during the course of an average month. The research highlights the detrimental impact on productivity and creativity, with one in ten participants admitting that their online habits have led them to decline sexual activity due to feelings of exhaustion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. Commissioned by OnePlus, the study aims to draw attention to the excessive digital consumption issue. In addition, the brand has unveiled Brain Rot Blaster: a retro-style, one-time-play first-person shooter game designed to break the cycle of endless scrolling. Smartphone brand representative Celina Shi remarked: "It's easy to fall into mindless scrolling - at home, at work, even around loved ones. We're encouraging people to take back control of their screen time and use their phones with more purpose." Further findings from the poll revealed that nearly half of those surveyed frequently lose track of time while scrolling, with 22 per cent completely unaware of the extent of their scrolling habits. But for the 52 percent who wish they had more hours in the day, cutting back on scrolling could help them make time for the things they say matter most. This ranges from seeing family and spending time in nature, as well as being more creative or learning a new language. Four in 10 scrollers admit to doing so on the toilet, and and a whopping half are caught scrolling in the presence of friends and family. Some have also indulged in online doom scrolling while at important events such as a wedding or funeral. Celina added: "Why lose hours to the scroll, when you could be creating something that inspires you instead? "Brain Rot Blaster takes on the creativity-crushing, productivity-sapping scroll, challenging users to rethink their habits and up their game."
