Ofcom’s latest annual report on the UK’s digital habits reveals striking contrasts in how men and women engage with the online world.

Women Spend More Time Online Than Men

Across all adult age groups, women in the UK are spending significantly more time online than men. In May 2024, women averaged 4 hours 36 minutes of daily online activity—33 minutes longer than men, who logged 4 hours 3 minutes.

This gap is particularly pronounced among Gen Z internet users. Women aged 18-24 spend an average of 6 hours 36 minutes online daily, surpassing their male counterparts, who average 5 hours 28 minutes—a 21% difference.

Social Media Usage Patterns

Women dominate usage on platforms like Pinterest (79%), Snapchat (66%), Instagram (64%), TikTok (62%), and Facebook (61%). Conversely, men spend more time on Quora (70%), X (formerly Twitter) (63%), Reddit (61%), LinkedIn (60%), and YouTube (56%).

Perceptions of Screen-Time and the Internet

Despite their heavier online presence, women are slightly more likely than men to feel they have a balanced relationship between screen time and real-world activities (69% vs. 66%). However, they are more sceptical about the internet’s personal and societal benefits. Women are:

• Less likely than men to think the benefits outweigh the risks (65% vs. 70%).
• Less inclined to view the internet as beneficial for society (34% vs. 47%).

Gendered Online Behaviours

Men’s and women’s digital habits differ significantly across various domains:

• Concerns about online harms: Women and teenage girls express more concern, with girls particularly affected by body-image issues, while boys encounter more content featuring dangerous stunts (29% vs. 19%).
• Popular platforms: Male-dominated Reddit has surpassed X as the UK’s fifth most popular social media platform.
• Generative AI: Men are more likely to have used AI tools in the past year (50% vs. 33%).
• Health and wellbeing sites: Women lead in visiting these platforms (88% vs. 80%).

The findings shed light on the starkly different ways men and women navigate the digital landscape, highlighting areas of concern and opportunities for targeted support.

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