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Screentime swaps: how to quit doomscrolling without quitting your phone

Addicted to your devices? According to experts, not all screen time is created equal. Here are some healthier ways to spend time online The average UK adult spends around 7.5 hours a day on a screen , whether that’s a phone, laptop, games console or TV. That figure may even be conservative, particularly for those whose jobs require them to be online. As concern around screen time mounts, the instinctive response has been to demonise it. The reality, however, is more nuanced. As the Guardian’s video games editor and author of Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun , Keza MacDonald, recently put it: “Not all screen time is created equal.” Spending an hour learning a language on Duolingo is not the same as flicking through dozens of short-form videos on TikTok. Video-calling a friend is not equivalent to trolling someone on Facebook. The difference

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Addicted to your devices? According to experts, not all screen time is created equal. Here are some healthier ways to spend time online The average UK adult spends around 7.5 hours a day on a screen , whether that’s a phone, laptop, games console or TV. That figure may even be conservative, particularly for those whose jobs require them to be online. As concern around screen time mounts, the instinctive response has been to demonise it. The reality, however, is more nuanced. As the Guardian’s video games editor and author of Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun , Keza MacDonald, recently put it: “Not all screen time is created equal.” Spending an hour learning a language on Duolingo is not the same as flicking through dozens of short-form videos on TikTok. Video-calling a friend is not equivalent to trolling someone on Facebook. The difference

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What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, Screentime swaps: how to quit doomscrolling without quitting your phone, Addicted to your devices? According to experts, not all screen time is created equal. Here are some healthier ways to spend time online The average UK adult spends around 7.5 hours a day on a screen , whether that’s a phone, laptop, games console or TV. That figure may even be conservative, particularly for those whose jobs require them to be online. As concern around screen time mounts, the instinctive response has been to demonise it. The reality, however, is more nuanced. As the Guardian’s video games editor and author of Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun , Keza MacDonald, recently put it: “Not all screen time is created equal.” Spending an hour learning a language on Duolingo is not the same as flicking through dozens of short-form videos on TikTok. Video-calling a friend is not equivalent to trolling someone on Facebook. The difference

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-05-22T14:00:02+00:00.

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Primary source: Screentime swaps: how to quit doomscrolling without quitting your phone via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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