Virgin Media highlights late-night scrolling

Virgin Media O2 says more than a fifth of UK adults use their phone after midnight during the working week, rising to more than a quarter at weekends. Research commissioned [...]

Dr Tomasz Hollanek Virgin Media O2 says more than a fifth of UK adults use their phone after midnight during the working week, rising to more than a quarter at weekends. Research commissioned with Akamai found that 21% of adults use their phone past midnight on weekdays, increasing to 26% at weekends. More than three quarters take their mobile phone to bed, while 29% say their phone has a negative impact on their bedtime routine.

The findings are being used to promote Virgin Media’s Essential Security product, which is available to broadband customers at no additional cost. Powered by Akamai, the service can block selected website categories, including social media, gambling and adult content, across devices connected to the home broadband network during chosen hours. The survey of 2,000 UK adults found social media was the most common late-night activity, cited by 54% of respondents, followed by watching reels or videos at 43% and messaging friends at 40%.

The same proportion, 54%, said they would welcome technology that stopped them accessing social media at night. Younger adults reported the greatest difficulty in sticking to limits. Three in five 18-24 year-olds said they struggled to follow their own digital curfew every night.

Virgin Media O2 also said parents were concerned about children’s device use, with 66% worried their children spend too much time online and 23% saying smartphones and connected devices were affecting their child’s sleep. However, 55% of parents were aware that they could block categories of websites but had not used the feature with their children. The research follows the launch of Virgin Media O2’s Digital Wellbeing Manifesto and its funding of a five-year Digital Wellbeing Observatory at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence.

Nicola Green, Chief Communications and Corporate Affairs Officer at Virgin Media O2, said late-night scrolling had become a common habit and that Essential Security gave customers “simple tools to help them manage their screen time”. Dr Tomasz Hollanek at Cambridge University said the value of digital wellbeing tools was not only in restricting access, but in encouraging families to discuss how technology should be used. “Features such as social media curfews are not simply about restricting access – they create opportunities for parents and children to discuss, negotiate, and build healthier digital habits together, which is necessary for meaningful change,” he said.