Life in the Digital Age

Executive Summary

For years, the story of digital life has largely been one of expansion. More of what we do has moved online, and as digital technology has become less a tool we occasionally use and more an environment we continuously inhabit, Americans are beginning to ask a question that once felt abstract: how has technology affected our lives? The picture is not widespread rejection of technology, but “digital saturation” and a growing desire to regain control over where technology fits in our lives. Americans describe everyday life as more mentally demanding than it should be, with these burdens especially pronounced among people under financial strain. At the same time, people are placing renewed value on experiences that pull them toward the physical world: time outdoors, making things by hand, time away from screens, face-to-face relationships, and participation in community life. Younger adults are often leading this shift, showing particular interest in screen-free time, analog activities, local experiences, and community participation.

But wanting more connection does not make it easier to find. Americans believe many physical spaces where relationships develop naturally are becoming harder to find, while online connections do not reliably cross into the physical world. That tension may help explain the nostalgia running through these findings: Americans are not primarily longing for old technologies or a world before the internet, but for simplicity, a slower pace, greater certainty, and stronger connection. Social media brings its own contradictions—it connects, entertains, informs, and offers self-expression, yet Americans largely see it as a place of performance rather than authenticity and believe it is making people less understanding of one another. They express strong preferences for safety and privacy, worry about what digital childhood may displace, and frequently describe social media as leaving them drained, distressed, or feeling they have wasted their time. In response, Americans are turning off notifications, deleting apps, putting phones out of reach, creating phone-free spaces, and replacing screen time with other activities, with younger adults among the most active in setting these boundaries.

Americans are not asking to return to a world before the internet. They are trying to find a better balance within the world it created: to be connected without being constantly reachable, informed without being overwhelmed, expressive without always performing, and able to benefit from digital tools without surrendering privacy or control.