A third of Britons say life would improve without social media tomorrow

According to Opinium Research's poll of 2,000 adults and 1,100 parents conducted in May, just 7 per cent of Britons believe social media is a force for good, and approximately one in three think life would improve if all these platforms disappeared tomorrow. This research reveals a significant crisis of confidence in social media's value to society.

The poll found that 42 per cent of respondents consider social media addictive, whilst half believe the platforms are worse for society than they were in 2010, citing misinformation, misleading content and polarising algorithms. Over half blame commercialisation for the problems, yet despite these concerns, social media usage in Britain has nearly doubled from 29.4 million users in 2010 to 55.5 million today, with 49 per cent using platforms more now than 16 years ago. Additionally, seven in ten people surveyed support fines for social media companies whose platforms expose under-16s to harmful content.