We’re online more but feel less able to be honest about our views on the internet, new research from communications watchdog Ofcom has found, with some people admitting to “operating in stealth mode — guarded, curated and cautious”.
One tech expert said the internet has changed substantially from the one he grew up with, and not for the better: “What we are seeing now is the textbook definition of a cyberpunk dystopia.” Another said: “You’re a digital serf, farming attention on someone else’s land.”
Meanwhile, a small business campaigner says he now finds his activism on behalf of SMEs and micro business owners “gets no support as people are scared to be associated with me”. Another professional said he warns his children “constantly” about posting online.
Adults now spend an average of four and a half hours a day online – up by 10 minutes on last year – according to Ofcom’s Online Nation report. Women spend 26 minutes a day longer online than men, with a daily average of 4hrs 43 mins.
But this year, only a third of adults (33%) said they feel the internet is good for society – down from 40% last year.
And fewer adults feel freer to be themselves online than offline this year (25%, down from 30% last year). Only 35% feel they can share opinions more easily online than offline.
Fear is the new normal
Tony Robinson OBE, at Be More Happipreneur, said this downward trend in feeling able to be open online will continue until the platforms have created the “new normal”.
He said: “Then, the new normal that it is not good for your career or your business to use social media to campaign, share political opinions or criticise the government, the financial sector or the world’s biggest brands, will be accepted by 80%+ of social media users.”
From 2012, Robinson used social media to support his campaigns on behalf of all start-ups and five million micro business owners. He founded movements and annual events to back up these campaigns.
This included a campaign to stop the biggest companies from using unfair 45 to 120 days payment terms – to get them to #PayIn30Days or less.
Robinson also campaigned to recognise the 3.8 million self-employed people, freelancers, start-ups and micro business owners excluded from income support during Covid.
He said: “Mainstream media picked up our campaigns and events from social media. Now I get no support as people are scared to be associated with me.”
Alphabet and Meta own our attention
Two major tech firms – Alphabet and Meta – now account for more than half of the time people in the UK spend online, the Ofcom report found.
YouTube is the most used Alphabet-owned service, used by 94% of adults – where they spend an average of 51 minutes a day, not including the TV set.
Facebook and Messenger (93% adults) are the most widely used Meta services, followed by WhatsApp (90% adults).
Most of the time online is spent on a smartphone, where adults use an average of 41 apps a month – with WhatsApp, Facebook and Google Maps the three most commonly used.
Culture of silence
Rohit Parmar-Mistry, Founder at Burton-on-Trent-based Pattrn Data, an AI consultancy, said what we are seeing now is “the textbook definition of a cyberpunk dystopia: we have allowed mega-corporations to privatise our digital lives”.
He added: “These platforms enforce heavy-handed ‘government’ mandates on the average user, creating a culture of silence where people are terrified to speak. Yet I see a tidal wave of ‘acceptable’ racism against Indians that goes completely unchecked.”
“They sanitise the content that scares advertisers but ignore the hate that drives engagement,” he said.
We need to reclaim the internet
Mitali Deypurkaystha, Human-First AI Strategist & Author at Newcastle upon Tyne-based Impact Icon AI, said the online world has killed context – leading to more virtual mudslinging.
She said: “Online, everything is stripped to black-and-white text, so misunderstanding is inevitable. Debate collapses into posturing and taking sides.
“We need to reclaim the internet as a tool that supports life, not the place where life happens,” she added.
Michelle Lawson, Director at Fareham-based Lawson Financial, agreed, saying it “has become divisive and too easy to vilify people unless they have the ‘right’ opinion”.
She continued: “I’ve pulled back from social media for those reasons. It has become a social battlefield where people type knowing that only a keyboard tussle will follow.”
Kate Allen, Owner at Kingsbridge-based Finest Stays said: “Many of us operate in stealth mode online; guarded, curated and cautious. I don’t want photos of my child circulating, opinions that could be weaponised, or a LinkedIn post that backfires.
“This a reflection of an environment that amplifies judgement, dulls empathy and rewards extremes.”
“I warn my children”
Scott Gallacher, Director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton said: “Online, every word is being recorded and potentially weaponised against you, be that immediately or, worse still, saved or resurrected at some later time, even by supposed friends.
“This is something I constantly warn my children about. Banter amongst friends on a night out is rarely remembered, but that same banter on a ‘private’ group chat can come back to hurt people even years later.”
Ben Perks, Managing Director at Stourbridge-based Orchard Financial Advisers, said: “They say opinions are like buttholes, in that everyone has one.
“Where they differ from buttholes is that people should check and monitor them more regularly. So it’s great that people are now stopping and thinking about what they type, rather than spouting utter nonsense online.
“I’m all for free speech, but hopefully this will reduce online hate, and maybe finfluencers will start to feel less free and start fact checking themselves prior to posting some of the utter garbage we see currently.”
Digital serfs
Colette Mason, Author & AI Consultant at London-based Clever Clogs AI, said Sir Tim Berners-Lee didn’t invent the World Wide Web so two companies could own half your waking life.
“When the same platforms that monopolise your search, video, messaging and social feeds also control the AI models deciding what you see, you’re not a user anymore. You’re a digital serf, farming attention on someone else’s land.
“The evidence is stark: trust in the internet down to 33%, people spending more time online but feeling worse about it, and AI overviews appearing in 30% of searches whether you want them or not. Thus is the enclosure of the digital commons by algorithmic landlords.”
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
