For the first time, the survey also asked participants how they felt about their screentime – with two thirds (67%) saying they sometimes spend too long on their devices.
In a separate report published in late 2025, Ofcom said UK adults were spending 31 minutes longer online than during the pandemic in 2021.
Meanwhile, it said responses to its annual qualitative Adults’ Media Lives tracker, which follows 20 participants over time, suggested a shift in how adults use social platforms.
“I’m posting something very rarely now, which is funny because when I was younger, I would have been posting what I was eating for dinner,” said one 25-year-old participant Ofcom have named Brigit.
Dr Ysabel Gerrard, senior lecturer in digital media and society at the University of Sheffield, said with some young adults swapping smartphones for dumb phones and “craving the MySpace era”, digital fatigue may be a factor for those posting less.
“When social media first became popular in the UK in mid-to-late 2000s, posting written updates, photos and videos was novel and exciting, but it’s neither of those things anymore,” she told the BBC.
Ofcom also said its survey found less positive sentiment overall about being online.
While 59% of people saw benefits outweighing risks of being online in 2025, this was “down from 72% last year and 71% in 2023,” it said in its report.
It also saw little difference in positivity toward the internet between those age groups very active and less active online.