Survey finds 27% of mobile users (up 5% on 2024) take disconnect time-outs; areas of growth don’t involve much screen time and globally the use of social media is falling
DNA’s Digital Life annual survey found that 27% of Finns purposely limit the time they spend online or on their phones, which is 5% more than last year. Of the 1,020 Finns aged 15 and older who responded to the Digital Life survey*, 42% felt that constant use of digital devices impairs their ability to concentrate.
Finland has been one the most advanced mobile markets in the world since mobile communications became mainstream in the last quarter of the 20th century in terms of technology, and may now well also be a bellwether in terms of usage trends – well outside the US (see below).
Additionally, 41% reported difficulty stepping away from the internet in DNA’s survey, and 35% said they find it hard to put down their phone.“Especially those aged 25–34 feel that digital devices interfere with their concentration. Interestingly, the youngest age group, those aged 16–24, are the most active in limiting their phone and internet use,” says Vilhelmiina Wahlbeck, DNA’s Director of Sustainability.
What to do instead?
The most common way people replace screen time is with other forms of leisure, and 60% of those who limit their usage say they do this. This method has also seen the biggest increase in popularity since last year. Other popular strategies include keeping the phone on silent for part of the day and limiting phone use before bedtime.
“Younger people, under 35, in particular have added more non-screen activities to their lives. This may also reflect generational differences in how devices are used. Younger users often use their phones for entertainment, watching series, and social media. In contrast, older age groups still watch linear TV and make phone calls, and only 16% of them feel the need to limit their time online,” Wahlbeck explains.
“It’s important to remember that smartphones and the internet serve a wide range of purposes. In a digitalizing society, time spent on smart devices is also used for managing everyday tasks, and not all entertainment use is harmful,” Wahlbeck adds.
Survey participants believe that smartphone use for tasks such as payments and remote home monitoring and control will increase over the next two years.
Past the social media peak?
“The survey shows that most social media use is quite passive. Fewer than 10% of respondents actively post content, while 42% say they post infrequently and mostly follow others,” Wahlbeck notes.
This chimes with findings elsewhere. In early October, analysis in the Financial Times [subscription needed] noted, “We may well look back on September 2025 as the point at which social media jumped the shark and began rapidly accelerating its transition from the place to be seen (through a flattering Instagram filter), to a gaudy backwater of the internet inhabited by those with nothing better to do.”
Analysis of the online habits of 250,000 adults in more than 50 countries carried out for the FT by the digital audience insights company GWI** found that time spent on social media peaked in 2022 and has since gone into steady decline globally. The article stresses this is not simply a rebalancing after a COVID-induced peak.
Adults (aged 16 and older) spent an average of two hours and 20 minutes per day on social platforms at the end of 2024, down almost 10% since 2022, and “the decline is most pronounced among the erstwhile heaviest users — teens and 20-something,” the article states.
How people spend time online has changed too: most people scroll content generated by algorithms rather than use social media to stay in touch with family and friends. The article cites the “enshittification” of the social networking experience – prioritising screen time and profit – as probable cause. Cory Dotorow invented the term, which he explains in his eponymous best-selling book – an illuminating account of the big techcos’ use of their platforms.
Born in the USA
The FT article notes, “There is one notable exception to this promising international trend: North America, where consumption of social media’s diet of extreme rhetoric, engagement bait and slop continues to climb. By 2024 it had reached levels 15 per cent higher than Europe.”
*The survey was conducted in collaboration with Nepa Insights, was carried out via an online panel from March 24 to 28, 2025.
** Since 2013 GWI has surveyed nationally representative samples of adults in dozens of countries around the world every quarter, asking questions including detailed breakdowns of how much time people spend on different digital platforms. GWI performed additional analysis for the FT, breaking down time usage data by age and region.
