Australia is deeply wired. Most people carry a smartphone, social feeds run constantly in the background, and news increasingly reaches users algorithm‑first rather than via front pages or nightly bulletins. This connectivity has obvious benefits, but it is also shifting how attention, politics and community work.
Mental‑health and youth surveys regularly link high social‑media use with anxiety, poor sleep and feelings of isolation, particularly among teenagers and young adults. At the same time, many rely on the same platforms for work shifts, social contact and basic information, making “logging off” less realistic than advice columns suggest. The line between leisure and obligation blurs when a single app delivers your friends, your boss, your bills and your news.[6][5]
Politically, digital channels have become the main way many people encounter public debate. Roy Morgan’s issue tracking shows sharp swings in concern about topics such as crime, immigration and climate in response to media cycles, with spikes in anxiety often outlasting the specific event that triggered them. Outrage and fear tend to travel faster than slow improvements in services or policy, creating a gap between lived conditions and perceived crisis. That gap can be exploited by campaigners and bad‑faith actors, but it also reflects how human attention works online.[4]
Local news has struggled in this environment. Advertising revenue has migrated to global platforms, regional mastheads have closed or shrunk, and coverage of council decisions, planning disputes and small‑scale corruption has thinned. When the main stories people see are national scandals and viral clips, it becomes harder to track what is happening in their own suburbs beyond personal networks. The practical effect is less scrutiny of local institutions and fewer shared reference points.[1]
The challenge is not to undo digital dependence—there is no realistic path back to a pre‑smartphone world—but to make it less corrosive. That means basic steps such as clearer guardrails on political advertising, transparency around recommendation systems, and investment in public‑interest media that is not wholly at the mercy of engagement metrics. It also means individuals and workplaces treating attention as a finite resource, not an endlessly monetisable stream.[6][4][1]
Sources
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9797-most-important-issues-facing-australia-january-2025[4]
https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/socialjusticestocktake/[15]
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/australian-youth-barometer-2025-financial-pressures-intensify-for-young-australians-as-confid[5]
https://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-07/national-report-card-2024_0.pdf[6]
https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/socialjusticestocktake/act/[1]