People in the UK are spending an average of four and a half hours online a day, according to figures from Ofcom, which is a ten minute increase from last year.

The online regulator’s annual review of UK online consumption found an increase in screen time, though the market is narrowing on how people spend their time online.

Two major tech firms – Alphabet and Meta – now account for more than half of the time people in the UK spend online.

YouTube is the most used Alphabet-owned service, used by 94% of adults. Time on YouTube is increasing, reaching an average of 51 minutes a day, not including the TV.

The combination of Facebook and Messenger (93%) is the most widely used Meta service, followed by WhatsApp (90% of adults).

AI’s Impact on Search

The report also found that Google Search continues to be the most used search service in the UK, with four in five (82%) of adults using the service.

However, AI is changing the UK search experience. About 30% of searches now show AI overview, and more than half (53%) of adults say they see these summaries often. In most cases, users are not seeking these out but rather finding them automatically included in their search services

Generative AI services are gaining traction, with more people actively seeking them out. ChatGPT had 1.8 billion UK visits in the first eight months of 2025, up from 368 million in same period of 2024.

Mixed Feelings

While adults may be using the internet more, they do not necessarily feel good bout it.

This year, only a third of adults (33%) said they feel the internet is good for society – down from 40% last year. And while nearly two-thirds (65%) of adults believe the personal benefits of being online outweigh the risks, this figure has declined steadily from 71% two years ago.

Fewer adults feel freer to be themselves online than offline this year (25%, down from 30% last year), and only 35% feel they can share opinions more easily online than offline.

What About the Children?

When it comes to younger Gen Z and the eldest Gen Alphas, mobiles and videos dominate their screen time. Children aged 8 to 14 spend almost three hours online daily, rising to four hours for 13-14 year olds, and about two hours for eight- to nine-year-olds. This only counts time spend of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and computers – not games consoles.

YouTube and Snapchat lead the way when it comes to screen time. Across 8–14s, children spend about 48 minutes a day on YouTube and 45 minutes on Snapchat – together making up around half of their total online time. Almost all 8-14-year-olds use YouTube (96%) and Google Search (95%). WhatsApp (63%) and TikTok (58%) also rank highly.

Late-night scrolling is common. Across four of the main services used by children – YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp – 15-24% of the time spent for the whole 8-14 age range happens between 9pm and 5am. 4–10% of usage happens after 11pm, depending on the platform.

Are The Kids Alright?

Unlike adults, most children (91%) aged 8-17 say they are happy with the things they do online.

Teenagers say they use social media and messaging apps to stay connected. Almost three-quarters (72%) of 13-17s who use these platforms say they help them feel closer to friends. Girls aged 13-17 are more likely than boys of the same age to see being online as good for helping to build and maintain friendships (71% vs 60%).

Overall, seven in ten (69%) 13–17-year-olds go online to support their wellbeing, mainly to relax (45%) or lift their mood (32%). Nearly eight in ten (78%) say the internet helps with schoolwork, and more than half (55%) use it to learn new skills.

Still, despite listing the positives of being online, many children were aware of the internet’s negative effects. Some of the children reflected on the negative impact of “doomscrolling” where users spend too much time scrolling through seemingly endless content that hurts their mental health.

They used the term “brain rot” to describe both the type of content and the feeling it leaves behind. This content is fast-paced, chaotic, and often nonsensical and can leave viewers overstimulated and disoriented.

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Action Against Harmful Content

With this awareness does come action, Ofcom found, with Gen Z being more likely to act when they see harmful content online.

While we found that seven in ten 11-17 year olds had seen or heard harmful content online in the last four weeks, we also found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of them had taken action after encountering such content.

Actions included using platform tools like the ‘dislike’ button (15%), reporting content (11%), blocking the person who posted the content (10%), or telling an adult (10%).

Online Spending

When it comes to purchases, children are commonly running into marketing encouraging to spend across different platforms.

Almost six in ten (58%) children aged 8-17 said they had spent money online in the past month, whether on social media sites, video-sharing platforms, or while they were gaming.

Children tell us that they were encouraged to spend money in various ways online, including character customisation (30%), adverts (27%), recommendations from friends or family (23%) and influencer content (22%).

But a third of children (32%) regretted the purchases they’d made in-game, and 43% regretted purchases made on social media. While 42% were unclear on what they even were buying in games.