A new global study conducted by Aloha Browser reveals a growing crisis of digital overwhelm, with 65% of people confirming it.
Being interested in different things—communication via social media, shopping, news & politics, entertainment (movies, gaming, etc.)—they live in front of their screens. More than half of respondents spend over 5 hours per day online, with 27% spending over 8 hours.
People live with a fear of missing out on important updates—almost half admitted that they feel stressed about it, with over 20% feeling it always or often.
As a result, people are suffering from the tab overload: about one-third keep open and monitor over 10 tabs at a time, with 21% having over 20 tabs open.
Each tab represented something meaningful once, opened with good intentions, with promises to return later, but many of them remain forgotten or lost.
Constant tab-juggling isn’t the only thing that creates frustration: the majority of people who want to stay updated (almost 60%) receive notifications about things they don’t care about more than once per hour, with 30% receiving them every 15 minutes, or more often.
Difficulty staying focused reduces the quality of life
Information overload and annoying notifications harm the human brain and make it challenging to stay focused, negatively affect productivity, mental health, and quality of life.
71% confirmed that they started working on one online task, only to get distracted by other links, tabs, or notifications, and later realised they had drifted away from their original goal.
Moreover, one-third admitted that they have difficulties returning to their main task after switching between apps or tabs. As a result, by the end of the day, they feel disappointed and as though they haven’t accomplished something important.
Among the top activities that respondents often lack time for are relaxation/mindfulness (47%) and sports (35%), indicating that people frequently miss out on opportunities to care for both mental and physical health.
Need to simplify getting to what matters
People are seeking ways to simplify their interaction with information: Over a third of respondents (35%) said that they would feel more in control of their online activity if they had a simple way to collect and track only what matters to them.
Almost one-third find using AI tools very useful for staying informed, while over 30% are interested in this capability and want to learn more about it.
“At Aloha, we believe that technologies are meant to help people cope with digital overload, stay focused, decrease stress, and organise smart information consumption,” said Andrew
Frost Moroz, the Founder of Aloha Browser.
“In response to our users requests (with 58% of respondents being interested in using an AI tool that helps them stay updated and have at their fingertips the information that matters to them),
“We are now releasing Snips for iOS, which follows the Snips for desktops launch earlier this year. It is designed to keep people on top of the information they really want or need and avoid digital noise,” he said.
Since 2015, Cyprus-based Aloha Browser set out to make digital freedom and digital privacy accessible to everyone. Through its privacy-first web browser and Private AI Assistant, Aloha offers a seamless and intuitive user experience while providing unparalleled data protection.
