Internet addicts in UK go for ‘digital detox’ to get a life

LONDON: Fifteen million internet users in Britain have undertaken a ‘digital detox’ in a bid to strike a healthier balance between technology and life beyond the

LONDON: Fifteen million internet users in Britain have undertaken a ‘digital detox’ in a bid to strike a healthier balance between technology and life beyond the screen, according to a report on Thursday by communications regulator Ofcom.

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Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2016 reveals how reliance on the internet is affecting people’s personal and working lives, leading many to seek time away from the web to spend time with friends and family.

It finds that one in three adult internet users (34%), equivalent to 15 million people in the UK, has sought a period of time offline. Most internet users (59%) consider themselves ‘hooked’ on their connected device, while a third (34%) admitting they find it difficult to disconnect.

Of these digital down-timers, 25% spent up to a day internet-free; 20% took up to a week off; and 5% went web-free for up to a whole month, it said.

Many people found their time offline to be a positive experience: a third (33%) said they felt more productive, 27% found it liberating, while a quarter (25%) enjoyed life more. But 16% experienced a ‘fear of missing out’ or FOMO while on the web wagon, 15% felt lost and 14% ‘cut-off’. Three in four internet users (75%) consider the web ‘important’ to their daily lives. Eight in 10 (78%) agree it helps keep them up-to-date about current affairs.