Australia appears to be undergoing a nationwide digital detox, with social media usage seeing a sharp decline across various platforms, according to the Digital 2024 - July Global Digital Statshot Report published by Meltwater and We Are Social.

The report, found that even younger Australians seem to be getting less social social, with Snapchat monthly app sessions falling by 11% and TikTok by 9%.

LinkedIn and Reddit, both platforms predominantly used by professionals, were the only platforms to see an increase in usage over time. Australians are now amongst the world's biggest users of the LinkedIn app in terms of time spent (1h 38m/month).

The report also highlighted that only 7.7% of Australians feel represented by the advertisements they see, regardless of the channel or medium. This is down from previous quarters and only half the level of the global average of 15.3%. Women were less likely to recognise themselves in the ads that they're served, and older people feel particularly excluded.

Meanwhile, nearly a third of Australians (30%) use ad blockers for at least some of their online activities, further complicating the advertising landscape. Globally, the primary reasons for this are "too many ads" (63%) and "ads get in the way" (53%), but 39% are blocking because they feel "ads aren't relevant to me".

VP Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia at Meltwater, Ross Candido, said: "What's particularly interesting here is that the primary problem is not adverts that annoy, upset or offend people - emotions which usually lead to adverts being flagged through traditional complaint mechanisms. Rather, the issue is that the vast majority of advertising is being deemed as wholly irrelevant."

Elsewhere, the report indicated that Reddit has the third-highest global ad reach in Australia (35%), trailing behind Canada (44%) and the US (42%), suggesting it may be an effective platform for reaching Australian audiences.

Australia also ranks among the top five countries in terms of mobile payment service users. More than half of Australians (53%) make online purchases every week, and nearly a quarter (24%) buy groceries online on a weekly basis.

Growth areas in Australia include the use of smartwatches, smart wristbands, digital health and fitness services, and online symptom checking. The use of game consoles and online gambling has also seen an increase.