Brits are scrolling away from X and aren't that interested in AI

Ofcom's Online Nation report drills into the UK's internet habits for 2024

Usage of Elon Musk's X social media platform is declining in the UK, and adult Brits aren't particularly interested in generative AI tools.

That's according to Ofcom's Online Nation report, an annual publication looking at what UK citizens do during their hours online and how much time they spend glued to gadgets.

According to the comms regulator, adults spent an average of four hours 20 minutes a day online in May 2024 across tablets, smartphones, and computers.

The report also shows that the total UK adult reach in a month of X (formerly Twitter) continues to decline. For May 2022, Ofcom measured X's adult reach at 26.8 million. In 2023, it was 24 million. By May 2024, it had fallen to 22.1 million, a year-on-year decline of 8 percent.

X suffered the most significant fall in total adult use of all social media sites, which also resulted in it sliding down the rankings to sixth, behind Reddit, which registered the largest year-on-year growth – 47 percent – taking May's figure to 22.9 million.

Several changes have been made at X in recent months, but the platform has continued on a downward trajectory in Britain and Northern Ireland.

Ofcom's figures align with other research on X. While still hugely popular, the service has been shedding users over the last two years. UK-based SOAX reported an 8.83 percent decrease in monthly active users since 2022 and 5.14 percent since 2023. This is despite global growth in social media users, according to Statista.

The decline co-incides with a change of ownership after Musk bought the business for $44 billion in October 2022, and it became a doyen of free speech - whether that includes more hateful or more honest content depends on the users' perspective.

AI – huh – what is good for? Perhaps a bit of searching?

Ofcom also found that Google's search engine dominance in the UK also slipped slightly over the year, with 83 percent of online adults visiting in May 2024 compared to 86 percent the year before. Microsoft's Bing fell further, down to 39 percent from 46 percent.

Microsoft and Google have invested heavily in AI, with generative AI content turning up in the search results from their respective services. However, ChatGPT remains the most popular GenAI tool. Microsoft's Copilot came second, with 15 percent of UK internet users aged 16 and over having used it. Despite being only recently introduced, Google's Gemini was ranked fourth, with 10 percent of users.

The figures also show sluggish AI adoption. More than half of adults in the survey had yet to use GenAI, with 38 percent declaring they were "not interested" and 35 percent saying they "did not need to."

Forty-eight percent of adults had used the technology, but only "for fun." Forty-three percent had used one for work, and the most popular activity was finding content. However, less than one in five (18 percent) trusted the output.

The numbers are slightly different for the under-16s. Fifty-four percent said they had used a GenAI tool, with more than half (53 percent) of those saying they had used it for schoolwork. Sixty-three percent reported using a GenAI tool "for fun."

The distribution across age groups shows that AI is making more significant inroads into younger demographics than older. However, it appears that investors may have to wait a little longer before AI bets start paying off. ®