The waning of social media

Social media has been blamed for the loneliness epidemic, declining attention spans, rising eating disorders, sleep deprivation, the spread of mis- and disinformation, and bringing an angry polarization to political life.

Not all those charges may stick in the end. (And many of them were once levied against life in small towns.) But people are beginning to sort their way through these issues and put social media in its place.

Time spent on social media platforms peaked globally in 2022 and has declined steadily since, according to a study of the online habits of over a quarter million people across 50 countries by the Financial Times and the research firm GWI. Adults 16 years and older spent an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes per day on social platforms in 2024, which was 10 percent lower than in 2022. The drop was highest among teens and 20-somethings.

A separate survey in Britain last year found that nearly one in five had deleted at least one social media app in the previous year. Among Gen Z (ages 14 to 29), it was one in three, and a majority in that age group favored a social media ban for children under 16.

Sources: CNBC; Deloitte