We used to be afraid that robots would take our jobs. Now it seems that this is not the case, and smartphone screens are taking away from us… not just our jobs (although they do that too), but basically everything. All our time. And they start with the smallest ones. And irrevocably.
We used to be afraid that robots would take our jobs. Now it seems that this is not the case, and smartphone screens are taking away from us… not just our jobs (although they do that too), but basically everything. All our time. And they start with the smallest ones. And irrevocably.
If you thought your habit of checking Telegram at 2 a.m. was just «anxiety,» I have news for you. This is no longer a bug, it’s a feature of our civilization. I looked at the latest (for the year) figures from researchers on both sides of the Atlantic and compared them with how much traffic domestic telecom giants «pour» into our smartphones. The picture is specific. But interesting.
Let’s start with global trends. A December YouGov study paints a portrait of the modern American who never leaves his screen, even on the toilet (although they would hardly admit it).
According to YouGov, more than 57% of American adults spend more than five hours a day in front of screens. But the real «digital trash» happens with buzzers. A third of young people under 30 «burn» more than 9 hours a day in front of screens. That’s more than the duration of a full workday or a healthy sleep.
The most interesting thing here is psychology. 20% of Americans sleep with their smartphone right in bed, and 43% check their email or social media in the last 10 minutes before going to bed. The smartphone has become the «third thing in bed.» And what’s worse, 42% of YouGov respondents honestly admit that if they take their phone away, they have a panic attack. It’s no longer just a gadget, it’s an external sense organ without which a person feels inferior.
In Ukraine, the situation is no less dramatic, although the reasons are different. We don’t just scroll TikTok — we survive. Rakuten Viber Ukraine surveys (June 2025 and March 2026), in which more than 70,000 users participated, confirm: we are in «digital slavery» to our own security.
42% of Ukrainians check notifications constantly. Almost every minute. Why? Because 7% monitor the news only during alarms, and 21% scroll through the feed every hour. We are afraid of missing the «exit» or «arrival». The smartphone has become our personal radar.
The results of another survey by Rakuten Viber Ukraine showed that 38% of Ukrainians spend 4-6 hours a day on their phones.
Now let’s look at the hardware. The numbers of operators available to dev.ua speak louder than words.
Kyivstar: in the first quarter of 2022, the average user consumed about 7.9 GB per month. By the end of 2025, it will be 15 GB.
Vodafone Ukraine: a similar rise — from 5.9 GB (February 2022) to 10.6 GB (February 2026).
Traffic consumption has increased by 85% over the four years of the war. We have begun to «eat» twice as much content. This is video, this is streaming, this is endless instant messengers. Even in a blackout, the first thing we look for is not water, but communication «sticks». Of course, content has become heavier over the years. But its consumption has also increased noticeably.
The scariest source comes from Britain. A study by the 1001 Critical Days Foundation and scientists at iADDICT found that we are raising a new generation of «digital Mowglis.»
Despite all the cries of doctors that screens are contraindicated for children under 2 years old, two-thirds of babies are already «sitting» on tablets. Some babies watch cartoons for 8 hours a day. Parents use the screen as a «digital pacifier» — so that the child does not cry while mom or dad tries to at least breathe a little from stress.
This is a path to nowhere. Scientists talk about speech delay, problems with focus, and physical obesity. But the market dictates its own: content developers put a «0+» stamp on everything, and parents, exhausted by reality, choose the easiest way out — give their child an iPad and buy themselves an hour of silence.
We are at a tipping point. The world has become too complex to survive without a smartphone, and too digital to remain mentally healthy in it.
According to the same YouGov, 34% of people complain about loss of concentration, and 51% of young people complain about disrupted sleep. But despite this, 93% of Ukrainian parents (according to Viber) continue to buy gadgets for their children.
We are building a world where the Internet is a basic human right, and silence and offline are a luxury for the chosen ones. And the rich.
It seems that by 2030 we will finally become nodes of the network.
