The news: Consumers are feeling inundated by digital platforms and concerned about the effects on their mental health, pushing them to take a step back from heavy social engagement.

• Nearly half (47%) of US adults say stress or anxiety has led them to delete a social media or messaging app, per Incogni’s The Great Digital Fatigue report.
• 32% cite mental health issues or concerns about wasted time as their top reasons for deletion. That includes 44% of Gen Zers and 42% of millennials, compared with one-quarter of Gen Xers and 12% of baby boomers.

In addition, 55% post less often now than they did five years ago, and 51% feel like it’s work to maintain an online presence.

As social audiences and post impressions shrink, brands need to reassess their outreach strategies, posting cadence, and offline marketing efforts.

What it means: Attention is becoming a scarcer marketing resource as more consumers consider feeds to be mentally exhausting.

• That trend could make generic AI-generated posts, virality-chasing, spammy posts, or repetitive brand content even easier to ignore.
• Audiences’ feelings of overwhelm make it important for marketers to produce higher-quality, less-frequent content that feels authentic and supports genuine connections with customers.

Recommendations for brands: Lean into digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns and in-person touchpoints to capture the attention of consumers who are stepping away from mobile screens—those placements reach customers without requiring another notification, scroll, or algorithmic interruption.

If consumers post less often and engage less publicly, brands have fewer opportunities to rely on organic distribution. Plus, the value of off-social tactics grows for efforts like email marketing and loyalty programs.

Focus on fewer, high-impact posts that tell a story and capture users’ attention where they are spending their time.

• Lean into community-first engagement instead of algorithm gaming.
• Explore in-person events such as pop-ups to reach consumers outside of their digital lives.

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